


Score!

by fritokays



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: AU, F/F, Fluff, Slow Burn, set after new moon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2019-11-23 10:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 24,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18150533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fritokays/pseuds/fritokays
Summary: Bella moves to Alaska for college and to join the girls' soccer team there. Little does she know that her coach has a pair of golden eyes and will be a big staple in her life from now on. I'm working on the title, suggestions would be lovely! Kate/Bella





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is finally! I have the first 15,000 words written and am finally ready to start posting it and hope that I don't post so much that I catch up to myself before I write more. It's going to be a slow burn and different from the Bella/Tanya fic (I hope!). There will be a few similarities like writing style and head cannons. IE: Bella can get shocked by Kate, who Irina's mate is, etc. I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think!

To say that Bella was nervous would be an understatement. After being recruited for the university soccer team and moving to Alaska, you could say she was a lot more than just nervous.

She had arrived the day before, her dorm mate seemed nice enough and it's not like they were actually sharing a room; just a suite. From what Bella had gathered, the girl was also on the soccer team. She was the goalie. Her name was JP. Bella wasn't sure what the initials stood for, but she hadn't really cared enough to ask either. She'd just driven for hours, spent several hours in a sort of orientation, been given her campus map and ID card, and sent on her way. She wanted to be alone.

Her room was small and impersonal. She figured she'd have to fix that sooner or later. For right now her dark green bed set, small potted cactus, and her favorite stuffed animal would have to do.

She was now on her way across campus to her first practice. She'd thrown on a pair of running shorts, her knee-high socks, a t-shirt, and a hoodie to be discarded when she got tired of it. Her cleats were in her bag and her favorite running shoes on her feet. Her hair was in two messy French braids that she had done the night before and had then slept on and couldn't be bothered to redo.

She stepped onto the field and she felt at home. The air of Denali was different, but she liked it. The grass felt good and solid beneath her sneakers. No one was there yet so she dropped her bag near the bleachers and took a lap around the field to loosen up.

"It's Bella, right?" She heard and looked up as she came to a stop after nearing the bleachers again. Her roommate was there dressed similarly to Bella.

"Yeah, Bella," She said with a nod as she stretched her legs to continue to warm up some, "JP, right?" She asked just to be sure and the girl nodded, "So what's that stand for?"

"Jaqueline Paige but I hate it. The girls say JP fits me better so," She shrugged rather than finishing her thought, "Though the girls like to shorten everything. Coach Kate has been shortened to CK. There's not even fewer syllables. There was no point," She said after putting her own bag down and joining Bella as she stretched. Bella laughed in response, "I don't suppose we'll get away with calling you BS so they're going to have to get a little more creative."

"Yeah, I hope so," Bella said with a laugh and moved over to her bag to grab her cleats and change into them, "How are the girls?"

"Like a family," JP replied and then continued, "And I know everyone says that but, here, we mean it. CK is like a big sister to everyone, she's always pulling pranks and being a huge hot mess," Bella grinned as she finished tying her first cleat onto her foot, "The rest of the girls usually follow suit. We're always together, even when we're not practicing or playing." Bella nodded and finished with her second cleat before standing again. "Speaking of," JP said and gestured. Bella spun and saw the team approaching the field.

The girls looked like any other group of soccer players. They all seemed to be chatting about something and Bella kept catching sight of blonde hair near the back of the group, but she couldn't make out the face of who she assumed to be her coach.

One by one the girls introduced themselves to Bella and then all simultaneously groaned when they realized that her initials didn't make a good nickname. They all took a lap then and Bella turned to look at their coach.

She was met with a wide grin and felt herself smiling back until she made eye contact. Golden eyes shone brightly back at her and Bella had to physically stop herself from gasping, "You must be Isabella Swan," Bella opened her mouth to correct her but was cut off, "Or, it's Bella, right? You put that on your information pamphlet," Bella just nodded in response, "We're glad to have you."

0~0~0

Practice had been interesting to say the least. Coach Kate had run drills with them after they had properly warmed up as a team. They'd done a few team building exercises and Bella could tell that these girls really did interact like one big family. They moved as a unit, she only hoped that she'd fit in. They ended practice in a huddle while their coach gathered up the equipment that they'd had out.

When they broke the huddle, several girls started talking about dinner. Bella was invited to grab some food with them in the dining hall and she opened her mouth to decline before finding herself agreeing instead. The beaming smiles that she got in response sealed the deal for her.

She grabbed her bag as everyone headed towards the locker rooms to shower and change and looked up when someone stepped closer to her. Coach Kate was stood before her grinning. "So, how was the first practice?" She asked brightly and Bella couldn't help but smile back. Kate was enthusiastic about everything from what Bella had seen already.

"I think it went well," Bella responded with a nod and Kate all but beamed at her, "I'm looking forward to the next one."

"As am I."


	2. Chapter 2

Bella had had a great time at dinner with her new team mates. They were quickly bonding, and she couldn’t have been happier with the girls. She’d walked back to her dorm with JP and they’d talked about her classes. JP had told her some tips and tricks to getting around campus, said she’d give her an official tour so Bella wouldn’t be too super lost when trying to find everything, and even told her which professors to look out for when registering for future classes.

Bella was now laying in her bed unable to sleep. How in the world was she supposed to let another vampire into her life? The last time she’d done that, it hadn’t ended too well for her. She’d lost the people she considered to be her family and it had taken her a while to get over it. 

But she’d had eventually gotten over it. She’d had to. She’d had to move on with her life. She’d had to stop being lethargic and mopey. She’d had to show Charlie that she was okay. She’d had to be okay. And she was okay. She was more than okay. She’d grown from the experience. As much as it hurt her, she wouldn’t be the person she was today if she hadn’t gone through it.

Bella had taken up running after finally pulling herself out of her room and finally leaving her house after the whole ordeal. She’d had to have something to release all of those feelings and running was what had done it for her. It was when she’d been out running, that the girls’ soccer coach at her high school had seen her. The team had just lost a player because of a foot injury and they needed one more. Bella was hesitant but she was assured that she would most likely be a stand in and probably wouldn’t even have to play.

She loved it. She loved being on the field. She loved dribbling. She loved foot work. She loved everything about the game. 

Bella had quickly picked up the skills she needed, and it turned out that she was a lot more coordinated than she had previously thought. It turned out, she just needed a little encouragement and a little drive. Playing for the team replaced her gym grade and she graduated with honors. She had received a scholarship to the local Forks University and had played there for two years, gotten her associates degree, and was looking for grad programs, when she was offered the scholarship in Denali and moved there.

Soccer had quickly become her life and she had her old team mates, that one crazy coach who’d recruited her in the first place, and the Cullens who had abandoned her to thank for all of it.

0~0~0

Around lunch time the next day, JP knocked on Bella’s bedroom door and asked her to grab lunch and run drills with her. Bella had immediately accepted and grabbed her cleats to throw into her bag being that she already had on a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt.

They’d grabbed a couple of slices of pizza in the dining hall and chatted for a while before heading to the field. They’d done a few warm-ups just so they wouldn’t pull any muscles and hurt themselves before Bella was firing shots at JP who was poised in the goal.

“Oh, come on, Swan. You can do better than that,” JP said sarcastically after the third out of eight shots sailed past her and into the net.

“I’m sure we can get the stains out of those pants, JP. Don’t be afraid of a little dirt,” Bella taunted, and JP shot her a look before shrugging and diving for the next shot. She blocked it and smirked at Bella, “There you go,” Bella continued in that sassy tone and JP laughed in response.

“You two know that practice isn’t for another four hours, right?” Was heard from the side of the field and they both turned and saw their coach there. It was clear she’d been watching them for at least a few moments judging by the smug grin on her face, “I mean, it’s clear that JP needed some extra practice, but I don’t know about four hours of it,” The woman continued, and Bella breathed out a laugh as JP pretended to look offended.

“CK, I’m hurt,” She said in a mocking voice as she put a hand to her chest, “Like you can do any better,” She taunted and the blonde’s face took on an impish sort of grin.

“Alright, Bella. It seems that your teammate here has thrown you to the wolves,” Kate said as she stalked towards the goal that JP had stepped out of.

“More like to the vampires,” Bella mumbled under her breath, though she was sure Kate could hear her. That was confirmed when a bright smile was thrown her way. Bella fired off a shot that was obviously stopped easily. She fired off seven more, which were all blocked, “This is pointless,” Bella grumbled under her breath once again. 

Bella then looked up and focused. The sun shining from overhead beat down on her back. The soft breeze felt nice as she moved about, and her body grew warmer. Her coach stood in the goal and was poised to block anything Bella kicked at her. JP was somewhere to the side grabbing her water bottle and checking her phone.

Wait. Sun. Bella furrowed her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side, “Why don’t you sparkle?” Bella asked under her breath and the next thing she knew, Kate was laughing uncontrollably. JP looked up in confusion, Bella shrugged, and kicked while Kate was distracted. The ball hit the net, but Kate just continued to laugh.

“I think she’s finally lost it and succumbed to the heat,” JP said as she walked up to Bella’s side.

“I’d say so,” Bella mumbled as they watched her slowly come back to her senses and stop laughing maniacally. 

“I’m going to run back to the room and grab my shin guards. You need anything?”

Bella shook her head in response and JP left the field. The ball had been returned to her and she bounced it a few times on her knees, knowing that her coach was approaching and that she would most likely have something to say.

“You could’ve taken it easy on me. We don’t all have super speed,” Bella mumbled as she continued her bouncing of the ball on her knees. She looked up with a pout when the ball was pulled out of the air by her coach’s hands, “Hey,” She said softly, and Kate just laughed in response.

“I figured you already knew, but you really got me with that “thrown to the vampires” comment,” Kate said as she dropped the ball to the ground, dribbled a few steps, and took a wide swing to send the ball sailing into the upper left corner of the net. Bella watched on in amazement. She knew that Kate was genetically flawless, but the woman was so graceful while playing soccer that it just wasn’t fair.

“I think I got you more with the sparkle comment. Why don’t you by the way?” Kate just laughed once again in response and looked up to see a few of the girls approaching for some extra practice. She winked at Bella before turning to greet the others. Bella just huffed and went to retrieve her ball from the goal.


	3. Chapter 3

Bella opened her laptop that night and contemplated her next move. She finally shrugged and opened her browser before googling ‘Kate Denali’. After scrolling for a few moments, it was clear that Kate was brilliant at staying out of the news and off of the web. There were a few mentions of her name just as the coach of the winning girls’ soccer team, but she was never in any pictures and there were never descriptions of her.

So, no information there. She knew she could fire off an email and maybe receive a response with more information, but she hadn’t contacted that email in so long, she wasn’t even sure that it was still being checked. Let alone if she would get an email back.

She sighed and closed her laptop once again before hearing her phone beep. She dug it out and saw a notification “You have been added to the group ‘Denali Danger’.” She laughed. The girls’ soccer team was named ‘Danger’ for whatever reason and apparently the girls had just added her to their group chat.

JP: We’ve finally decided on your nickname 

Bella: And that would be?

Double C: You’ll have to wait until practice to find out.

Double C was one of the strikers on the team. She was ridiculously good, and Bella thought she remembered her name being Carlie Cross.

Lil’ K: Yep, you’ll see tomorrow!

Lil’ K was normally just shortened to “K” on the field and she was the second-string goalie. She was a freshman and also a super hard worker and wanted to be first string next year. Her name was Kaitlyn and so the girls all called her Little K as a play on the fact that her name was Kait and she also had blonde hair and brown eyes like their coach.

Bella: Ugh fine! 

She attached a smiley face though so the girls would know she wasn’t really upset and clicked her phone off. It beeped only a moment later and Bella’s eyes widened when she saw the notification.

“New Message from CK” It read. Of course Kate was in the group chat and could now direct message Bella. Duh.

CK: I don’t sparkle because that’s not normal.

She’d attached a laughing-crying face and Bella furrowed her eyebrows.

Bella: It’s not?

CK: Nope, Fuckward is just a special type apparently. No one knows why he does that.

Bella laughed suddenly at the unexpected nickname of her previous boyfriend and hoped that JP hadn’t heard her or at least didn’t care enough to ask what was so funny.

Bella: Good to know

She’d attached the same emoji as Kate being that she was still laughing at the use of the nickname.

CK: I do spark though ;)

Bella looked at her screen in confusion before replying.

Bella: What?

Kate didn’t message her back though. She just sent back an emoji with sunglasses on and Bella finally gave up on receiving any answers that night.

0~0~0

Bella had arrived to practice with calls of “La-La”. She’d looked confused for a moment before laughing and just shrugging her acceptance of the nickname that they’d come up with for her. CK was late and the girls had already stretched and caught up on the drama that had occurred since yesterday’s practice. They were now sat around in a circle head butting a ball back and forth between the thirteen of them.

“CK’s never late,” JP commented after knocking the ball with her head.

“I know right? It’s weird,” CC agreed, and the rest of the team nodded their agreement. Bella bit her lip as she listened to them talk about how out of character it was for Kate to be late to anything. Bella knew that had to be true. She was always around and even if she was just in the area, she could hear the girls arriving and would know to make her appearance.

A few moments later, all of their phones were beeping, and Bella dug hers out of her bag while the others did the same.

CK: Sorry girls! I can’t make it today. Something came up and I had to leave town unexpectedly. I’ll see you all tomorrow!

Bella looked up to see that everyone looked confused, “She’s never cancelled practice. I don’t know what to do with my day now,” Lil’ K said and the other girls just nodded in agreement. 

“We could just scrimmage 6 on 7,” Bella finally suggested with a shrug. The girls all looked up and glanced around before they all agreed with smiles and started choosing teams and heading to their respective areas of the field.

“Shirts!” The other girls called out and JP rolled her eyes before pulling her shirt over her head and leaving herself dressed in her sports bra, shorts, knee high socks to cover her shin guards, and her cleats. The rest of the girls followed suit and Bella finally also removed her shirt. It wasn’t like she hadn’t practiced shirtless before.

“It’s on, girls!”

0~0~0

 

They were in their last quarter of their impromptu scrimmage game. Bella was sweaty, as was everyone else on the field. They’d played hard. They were all disgusting and half of them were covered in mud after apparently disregarding most rules that wouldn’t get them too hurt. At one point, Bella had even back flipped with the ball and landed right in the mud. She’d got up, dusted off, and kept moving.

Her team was closing in on the other goal and Bella swiped a strand of sweaty hair out of her face as she tracked the ball with her eyes. Her teammates were passing as much as possible in order to throw the others off as they tried to decide how to score.

JP caught Bella’s eyes as she dribbled. She made a circular motion with her finger and Bella smirked and nodded before the ball was being passed her way. One of the other girls moved towards her and Bella let her think she’d gotten the jump on her until she went to take the ball.

Bella suddenly stepped on the ball, pivoted around it, kicked it up behind her, jumped, spun in the air, and kicked it with all of her might. She fell to the ground but the simultaneous cheers and groans let her know that her shot had made it in.

Nike’s phone timer went off as they cheered (The girl was a brand snob apparently and that’s how she’d earned the nickname) and they all cheered and gathered around Bella, “Game!” JP shouted.

“What was that shot, La-La?” Was said by several of her teammates and she promised to attempt to teach them the move later. They finally all calmed down and started towards the bleachers, “CK!”

Bella looked up suddenly with all of the other girls and saw their coach stood on the top row of the bleachers watching them, “I figured you girls would take your free day,” She said as she descended the stairs. “Oh, I forgot. None of you have lives,” She said with a playful tone and earned a shove from one of the girls. Bella had to give it to her. She made it look like the girl had actually been able to move her some.

The girls all started to disperse after Kate explained that she’d thought she would be back in time for practice but only made it back in time to see the last ten minutes of their little game. She’d figured some of them would be out there running drills, not that they’d all be out there playing a full-on game.

Bella was sat on the bottom row of the bleachers and had bent over to peel her socks off of her feet being that they were covered in mud anyway. She removed her shin guards as well and shoved everything into her bag.

When she stood and grabbed her bag, she looked up and met golden eyes. How long had Kate been staring at her? She suddenly felt a little more self-conscious that she hadn’t put her shirt back on yet and was still just standing there in her sports bra.

Kate stepped over towards Bella and gestured for the girl to start walking and then fell into step beside her, “So,” Kate began and Bella looked over at her, “What’s up, La-La?” She asked sarcastically and Bella huffed and shot her a side-eyed look.

“Why do I just feel like you definitely had something to do with that?” Bella asked and Kate just smirked and shrugged innocently, “It’s not the worst thing I’ve been called,” She finally said. She didn’t really mind the name anyway. She liked that her teammates had picked a name for her. She felt like she was really accepted.

“Why Denali?” Kate asked suddenly and Bella bit her lip as she thought about the answer. It occurred to her suddenly that the pair of them probably looked like a sight. Bella was wearing only a sports bra and a pair of running shorts. Her feet were bare, her hair had to look like a huge mess, and she was covered in mud. On the opposite side of things, Kate looked immaculate. She had on a tight pair of light wash jeans, a white blouse, a pair of gray ankle boots, and a dark pair of sunglasses over her eyes.

“To be completely honest,” Bella said as she shifted her soccer bag on her shoulder, “I wanted to get as far away from home as I could.” She could tell Kate was trying to make eye contact with her, but Bella kept her eyes trained forward. She didn’t really want to talk about Forks right now. “The program seemed nice and the school is highly rated,” She shrugged, “It seemed like a good choice.”

Bella stopped being that they were finally in front of her dorm building. She turned and faced her coach and didn’t think that Kate could’ve smiled more widely if she’d tried, “What?” Bella asked after a moment and Kate had to physically force the smile off of her face.

“Nothing. I’m just glad that you chose Denali. It seems like you’re going to fit in well and the girls all seem to love you already,” Bella looked a little unsure and Kate giggled, “We took on a girl last year and within a week they’d already decided they didn’t like her. They even called her by her name. And it was a mouthful!” Kate said with a laugh, “You have a nickname. They want you to teach them your signature move. They were all so excited to add you to the group chat last night. You belong here, Bella. Don’t doubt that.”

Bella bit her lip to fight her own smile and finally nodded in response, “Thanks,” She said genuinely. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t be late, La-La!” Kate threw the last statement over her shoulder as she turned to walk away.


	4. Chapter 4

Bella and JP had gone together to meet the rest of the team for breakfast that morning. All thirteen of them sat crowded around a single table in the dining hall discussing strategy, game plays, new moves, drama around campus while there were no classes to distract anyone, and anything else they could think of.

They then all headed to the campus pool after Hollywood (she had a habit of wearing ridiculously huge sunglasses apparently) had mentioned that it’s always empty during the summer being that no one really stays on campus then. And they’d had a blast together. They’d played chicken, volley ball, a round or two of Marco Polo, and even had a few races up and down the pool as well.

They’d all gotten out, dried off, tied their hair up, pulled on a pair of shorts, and headed across campus to the field for practice that would be happening in the next hour. They all automatically got into their usual circle to stretch and talk.

“Will you show us that move, La-La?” Bella looked up and nodded in response. She never thought that some dumb move she’d made up years ago would be such a staple among her teammates.

“Do you guys think we’re ready for the game next weekend?” Another girl, Minnie (she had a high-pitched voice and an obsession with Disney) asked.

“I think we are… or at least we definitely will be,” JP answered her as she lunged to the side and stretched her legs out. They all laid down to do leg raises and continued to talk everything out.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’d all been in that pool,” CK said as she walked up without looking up from her phone. Bella turned her head to look at Kate from where she was still lying on the ground. They were all still in their bathing suit tops and most of their hair still hadn’t fully dried either.

“You should join us next time, CK,” Hollywood said as they all finally stood. Bella felt her heart skip a beat at the thought of Kate in a bathing suit and bit her lip while trying to figure out why her body had reacted like that in response to Kate.

“We’ll see,” Kate said and finally pocketed her phone. She shot everyone a wide smile which earned groans in response. Bella looked around in confusion before looking back to Kate who was now smirking, “Go get the cones, K,” She said and Lil’ K ran off to grab the cones out of the bag that CK had dropped on the side lines. Ah, they were running suicides. Bella loved running. “Okay, girls, you know the drill,” She blew her whistle then and they all fell into two lines to start running.

After thirty minutes, they were all sweaty and everyone seemed to be breathing hard. Bella could’ve gone for thirty more minutes, but Kate seemed to take pity on them, “Okay, water break and then we’re running plays,” She said and the girls all seemed to fall to the ground at once, “So dramatic,” She said playfully and rolled her eyes. Bella was the only one left standing, “You guys should all step it up. La-La there isn’t even breathing hard and she’s definitely not used to this altitude,” She said as she walked towards the bleachers where she’d left her bag.

Kate earned twelve simultaneous middle fingers as she walked away and Bella just laughed in response, “I saw that,” Kate threw over her shoulder with a giggle and the girls all finally dragged themselves from the ground and over to their bags to grab their water bottles. Kate pulled a soccer ball out of her bag and tossed it over her shoulder onto the field, “Two more minutes and then corner kicks.”

0~0~0

“Okay, girls! Nice job today,” Kate said when the last play she’d planned had been mastered. “No practice tomorrow, as usual,” She said. Bella nodded along with the rest of the girls. They didn’t practice on Sundays. “I’ll see you all on Monday. We’ll be in the weight room,” She said and the girls all groaned once again. Bella smirked. It was clear, Kate was doing all she could before their game next weekend.

“I’m going back to the pool,” Hollywood said and the rest of the girls mumbled their agreement. Bella was pulling her cleats and socks off.

“You coming?” JP asked as she did the same next to her.

“Nah,” Bella shook her head, “My counselor wants to meet with me today and I need to go shower and change,” She continued and JP nodded as she shoved everything into her own bag.

“Cool, I’ll text you when we go to dinner then?” Bella nodded in response and threw a smile her way before the goalie was standing and running to catch up with the rest of the team.

“Counselor meeting, huh?” Kate asked as finished shoving cones into her massive equipment bag. Bella looked up and nodded before standing and shouldering her bag, “On a Saturday?”

“Every other time he wanted to meet, I was here,” Bella gestured to the field and shrugged, “He agreed to meet with me today after practice, so I took it.” She started walking and Kate fell into step beside her once again. “I don’t see the point in the meeting. He’s just going to welcome me to campus, like everyone else did. Give me my schedule, which I can access online. And tell me that his door is always open if I need someone to talk to,” Bella finished with a roll of her eyes.

Kate laughed in response and nodded, “That was pretty close but this school also has a slogan, so you’ll also get a ‘And remember, Denali is only as great as its students’,” She said and Bella groaned in response.

“You’re kidding right?” Kate shook her head and Bella made a face, “Gross,” She mumbled and Kate just laughed at her, “Why no practice on Sundays?” Bella asked and Kate shrugged before answering. 

“We usually hunt on Sundays,” Kate said and Bella nodded.

“We?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and Kate nodded in response.

“The coven. There are five of us,” She explained, “Well six. I keep forgetting Irina actually has a mate now.” She then glanced at Bella and looked away quickly which seemed odd, but Bella forgot about it when Kate kept talking, “He’s nomadic and they’re hardly around so I forget about him,” She said by way of explanation and Bella just nodded in response.

“And you?” Bella asked, “No mate?” She finished and looked towards Kate who was now definitely trying her hardest not to make eye contact with Bella. She furrowed her eyebrows as she watched Kate look anywhere but at her.

“Umm,” Kate started, and Bella knew that this was the first time she’d ever seen a vampire fidget nervously. It was a sight. “No,” She said simply and Bella could tell she’d wanted to say something else but she didn’t push it. She stopped walking and Bella looked up and realized they’d once again made it to her building.

“Thanks,” Bella said awkwardly, “For walking me,” She finished lamely and with a gesture to the building. Kate’s nervousness was suddenly gone and a bright smile lit up her face.

“No problem. Good luck with your counselor. I’ll see you on Monday!”


	5. Chapter 5

Bella laid awake that night thinking about her conversation with Coach Kate. The look on her face when she’d said she didn’t have a mate had seemed so odd. She wondered if something that happened to Kate’s mate. The way that she’d answered Bella’s question had just seemed like there was more to say or like she wanted to say something else and just couldn’t bring herself to do so.

Bella rolled over and grabbed her phone when it lit up her room and squinted at the bright screen before lowering her brightness to a more human level.

JP: Are you still up?

Bella: Yeah, what’s up?

JP: A bunch of us are about to play a campus wide game of capture the flag. Come on!

Bella laughed and rolled out of bed. She threw a shirt on and just left her PJ shorts on her body. She grabbed a pair of shoes and tugged them on, pocketed her phone, and stepped out of her room. JP was waiting for her and was dressed similarly and had a massive smile on her face.

“We’re team red,” She said and held out a red bandana. Bella watched her tie her own bandana around her head and followed suit, “Our flag is apparently hidden on the top floor of the library and we need to find the blue flag before they find ours,” Bella nodded and followed JP out of the dorm, downstairs, and out into campus. “We also have CC, Lil’ K, Nike, Hollywood and Wiki on our team.”

“So it’s seven against six?” Bella asked as she watched a few girls in blue bandanas run past them in the dark.

“No, it’s even. CK loves capture the flag,” JP replied. Bella was sure she did. She could hear the other team talking about where their flag was hidden, and she could definitely defend her own team’s flag.

“Ah,” Was all Bella said in response. “I’m going to head that way,” Bella pointed towards the school bookstore.

“Lit, I’ll head that way,” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder in the opposite direction and the two of them split up.

Bella was careful to stay in the shadows and behind objects while she made her way across campus. She knew, of course, that if Kate was out on the course, it wouldn’t do her any good. However, if the other girls were passing her, they wouldn’t know she was there.

She stopped in front of the bookstore and looked around for any signs of the flag or of movement. She was about to turn around when there was a gust of wind and she heard a distinct flapping. She turned back and trained her eyes in the direction that the noise had come from. There it was.

She jogged over to the flag, looking for whoever was undoubtedly guarding the flag. She didn’t see anyone though. She looked around and reached out before someone was jumping down from the tree beside her.

“Shit!” She exclaimed as she turned around, “You scared the shit out of me,” She had finally fully turned around and saw that it was CK, “Of course,” Bella said with a laugh, “Does your team ever lose?”

“Reigning champs, La-La. And that’s not about to change now,” Kate replied with a smirk.

“I’d have to disagree with you, CK,” She replied in the same tone that Kate had used. She reached back for the flag and her fingers came into contact with the cool fabric.

“I will tackle you, Bella,” Kate said playfully and Bella laughed in response. She knew that she didn’t actually stand a chance at winning this if Kate didn’t want her to. “Of course, no one else has ever gotten this close to our hiding spot. At least not this fast,” She said with a shrug, “But there’s no way you’re winning,” She continued and threw Bella a wide smile.

Bella knew that the only way she would be able to win is if there was another human around to see her run away with the flag. Kate wouldn’t be able to get away with moving at super speed with someone else around.

Bella squinted and looked out into the darkness. She finally saw someone run by and couldn’t make out who it was until they looked down at their phone and it lit up their face, “JP!” She called and the girl looked up. Bella snatched the flag while Kate was distracted and looking towards the other girl. She knew she had to move as fast as possible and ran for JP.

“Oh, you little sneak,” Kate laughed out from behind her and Bella just cackled as she ran.

“La-La found it, guys!” JP yelled across campus and Bella could hear the other girls running towards them then. She glanced back at Kate who was running at ‘normal’ speed behind Bella. The blonde sent her a smirk and a shrug of defeat just as Bella made it to her team.

The next thing she knew, she was being lifted onto their shoulders and paraded around for finding the flag. “We’ve never won before!” Wiki exclaimed and Bella laughed from above them while they chanted “Red Team” over and over again

They finally sat her to her feet and all of them started walking at the same time, “What now?” Bella asked. It was Kate who answered her.

“Losing team jumps in the pool fully dressed. Shoes and all,” Kate replied and Bella bit her lip to keep from smiling too widely, “They’ve had to jump in the pool fully clothed so many times,” Kate laughed out as they went through the gate and into the indoor pool area of the campus gym.

The red team stood on one side of the pool and the blue team lined up on the other side. One by one, they each jumped in after saluting the red team and saying, “All hail team red!” As soon as one hit the water, the next saluted, repeated the phrase, and jumped in. CK was the last one and Bella was almost positive that the woman had winked at her before she jumped in.

Hollywood removed her shoes and ran and jumped into the pool. The rest of the red team followed suit and soon enough the thirteen of them and their coach were in the pool. After a while, half of them were in the pool and half of them were on the side of the pool. 

Bella had hoisted herself up onto the side of the pool next to JP and was currently watching CC, Hollywood, Wiki, Lil’ K, Nike, and Reeces who were all involved in a three-way chicken fight. Bella laughed when Lil’ K hit the water and came back up sputtering only to turn around and chase someone else off through the pool.

CK suddenly hoisted herself up onto the side of the pool beside Bella. The brunette glanced over and quickly glanced away. She felt her cheeks heat up and her heart speed up slightly. The sight of Kate with her wet clothing clinging to her had affected her funnily. None of the other girls were distracting her or affecting her, but yet here she was, attracted to her coach.

They laughed as Wiki hit the water and Hollywood and her partner Reeces were hailed champions of the chicken fight. Kate tensed suddenly and Bella looked over, “There’s a security guard coming,” She whispered into Bella’s ear as she stood.

“Shit,” Bella whispered and stood and tugged JP up with her, she pointed by way of explanation and JP could see the flashlight coming from down the hall. They got the other girls’ attentions and quickly and quietly, they all fled the scene. 

Bella turned around being that she was the last one out and saw that one of the girls had left her bandana on the ground. The issue was, a name was embroidered on it. She grimaced and darted back to grab it.

“Bella!” Kate hissed and the girl just grabbed the bandana and held it up as she ran back. Kate looked towards the door, glanced at Bella, sped to her, and suddenly Bella was on her back. She tucked her face, having been accustomed to being carried from years ago, and held on tight as Kate ran with her and left the building just in time. 

Campus looked dead now. The girls had all ran back to their respective dorms quickly and Bella couldn’t hear or see anyone still out. Kate carried her across campus and finally deposited her when she was in front of her dorm building.

“Thanks,” The girl mumbled and Kate nodded.

“I could have grabbed it, you know,” Kate pointed out with a smirk.

“Yeah, and probably a lot quicker than I did, but I wasn’t thinking,” Bella admitted with a shrug.

“It’s not a huge deal. I probably could’ve talked our way out of that one, but they definitely told us to stop breaking into the gym to use the pool at night,” Kate said with a laugh, “Better safe than sorry. Whose bandana is it anyway?”

Bella finally looked at the piece of fabric in her hand and laughed. ‘Lil’ K’ was written across it and Kate rolled her eyes.

“She’s definitely running an extra lap at practice on Monday.”


	6. Chapter 6

It was Friday now and they’d had successful practices all week. Team morale was high and the girls had barely spent time apart. When they weren’t practicing, they were getting meals together, hanging out in the pool, or just having sleepovers in whoever’s dorm they ended up in that night.

At the end of practice, Kate had called them all over and they sat in a circle on the ground around her. She took a seat as well when the last one sat down and looked around at everyone before smiling widely.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you’re all ready,” She said and the girls all side in relief, “You all are getting along great. I haven’t gotten the attitude I usually get before a game. Practices are successful. You guys are going to be fine tomorrow.”

“Now, CK,” JP started, “Don’t go getting all mushy on us now,” She finished before she was standing and running. Kate braced herself like any human would before the rest of the girls were dog piling on her.

“You guys ruined it!” She shouted playfully, “You’re going to fail so bad tomorrow! I’m speaking it into existence!” She yelled from the bottom of the dog pile, “Whose elbow is in my stomach?!”

The girls laughed and slowly removed themselves from their place on top of their coach and huddled up together, “Okay, so at the risk of being ‘mushy’,” She said with a sideways glance at JP who just shrugged at her, “You’re ready. You’ve been ready. And you’re going to kick some serious ass tomorrow,” She said and received a few giggles, “So, please, eat a good dinner, don’t go out and do anything stupid, get some sleep, eat a good breakfast, and don’t be late!”

The girls all nodded and they broke their huddle by yelling “Danger!”. 

“La-La! Wait up,” Kate called as the girls started to leave the field. Bella hung back and waved JP on when she asked if she wanted her to wait for her. She checked her phone, noticed a text from her dad, and repocketed it. Kate walked over to her after shouldering the equipment bag, “How do you feel about your first game?” She asked as they started walking across campus.

“I’m not sure yet?” Kate looked over with a raised eyebrow, “The panic hasn’t set in yet,” Bella said with a laugh and a shrug, “I’ll be fine once I’m on the field.”

“Of course you will,” Kate agreed with a nod and Bella ducked her head slightly to hide her grin, “You’re starting tomorrow,” She said and Bella looked up in shock, “What?”

“I’m a first year,” Bella said in confusion and Kate shrugged.

“The lineup works best with you as a starter. You’ve earned it. Don’t let the fact that it’s your first year here take that away from you.” Bella finally just nodded in response to that and shifted her bag on her shoulder. 

Kate’s hand brushed against her own and she felt a light shock run up her arm. She jerked her hand back and looked up at Kate in confusion, “Vampires can’t carry static,” She said bluntly and Kate busted into laughter.

“I told you I spark,” She said as she continued to laugh and Bella stared dumbfounded at her. She looked down at her hand and finally just held her hand out, palm facing Kate. “Seriously?” The blonde asked and Bella just nodded. Kate squinted at her for a moment to see if she would waver before she brought her pointer finger up and held it right in front of Bella’s palm, “Ready?”

“I guess,” Bella said with a shrug and Kate touched her palm. This shock was a little more than the last one that could have definitely being written off as normal static. This one sent a jolt up Bella’s arm and the girl jumped, “Wow,” She finally said, “You definitely have too much fun with that don’t you?”

They started walking again as Kate answered her, “Definitely, the girls all think I’m the most statically charged person alive. I almost lost it when they said “person” and “alive” in the same sentence being that neither are true when comes to me,” Bella giggled and nodded.

“And yet none of them steer clear of you,” Bella pointed out and Kate shrugged, “How’d you end up coaching a college soccer team anyway?” She asked and Kate looked over at her.

“I have several degrees,” Bella laughed imagining the amount of school Kate had probably gone through over the years she’d been alive, “One of them is exercise physiology and I was bored and there was an opening so I figured I’d kill a few years with coaching before moving on,” She shrugged, “I fell in love though. This job, this campus, these girls. They make everything worth it.”

“They love you too,” Bella said, “It was the first thing that I was assured of when I got here. That you were basically the best thing to ever walk the earth and that they all adored you,” Bella finished.

Kate was silent for a few moments and Bella looked over to see the vampire’s eyes full of tears that could never fall. She was smiling softly though and finally glanced at Bella, “Thanks,” She said and Bella shook her head.

“I didn’t do anything but tell you what any of the other girls would have told you if you’d asked. You formed those bonds all on your own,” Bella said in explanation.

“I know,” Kate said softly, “I’m just never really sure. I haven’t had a relationship of any kind with anyone outside of my coven for a long time,” She said and glanced at Bella for a long moment. She finally looked away and kept talking, “Thank you for telling me though.”

“Yeah,” Bella nodded, “No problem,” She smiled. She stopped in front of her building and smiled when she thought about the fact that Kate usually walked her back from practice. It was probably weird, but she didn’t mind at all, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bright and early, La-La. I don’t need any stragglers and bleary-eyed players on my field!”


	7. Chapter 7

The sun was shining brightly. New yellow jerseys, dark blue shorts, and bright yellow socks adorned the bodies of the girls. They were huddled together just moments before the game would start. There was a buzz. They were all excited and couldn’t wait to start playing. 

“Remember, girls,” Kate said as she finished up her speech, “This is a team sport. You’re not out there by yourself. I don’t want to see any stupid risky moves just because you were trying to make yourself look good. So, get out there, play hard, and don’t stop until you’ve given it everything you’ve got.”

They all broke the huddle and the starters headed out onto the field. The other team won the coin toss and the game was started. Things were progressing nicely. So far, neither team had scored. It had been a lot of back and forth which was expected.

At halftime, the girls jogged over to their side of the field and grabbed their water bottles. They stood around as Kate boosted their morale once again and then headed back out onto the field when the referee blew the whistle.

The end of the game was nearing and neither team had scored yet. Bella was being blocked on all sides. JP had control of the ball. Nike was between them and surprisingly open. JP crossed the ball to her with a look that told her to make it count. 

The girl took a breath, stepped on the ball, pivoted, kicked it into the air, spun, and perfectly pulled off Bella’s move. The crowd and the girls went wild when the ball soared into the net. A few seconds later, the timer was going off signaling the end of the game.

“You did it!” JP and Bella exclaimed as Nike stood there shocked. Her shock was short lived when the girls all lifted her onto their shoulders to parade her around the field. They were on a high from their win.

After Kate had congratulated all of them and told them to take their Sunday off with joy and relaxation, they all split up. JP’s boyfriend had come into town for the game and she was spending the rest of the weekend with him meaning that Bella would have the entire dorm to herself. She had plans of taking the longest shower ever.

She looked up from her bag when someone stepped in front of her and casted a shadow over her. She was expecting one of the girls or Kate, but she didn’t know this person. Long dark hair fell around the woman’s shoulders and bright white teeth were on display as she smiled widely, “Bella, right?” The woman asked and Bella was taken aback slightly.

“Umm, yeah,” She said after a moment with furrowed eyebrows, “Do I know you?” She asked.

“Nope,” The woman said and enunciated the ‘p’ sound so that it popped dramatically, “But I’ve heard a lot about you and I just had to put a face to all of it,” She said casually and Bella just looked more confused. She glanced around, but all of the girls had left by now and there were just crowd members still leaving and milling around.

“Carmen!” Bella looked up to see Kate jogging at human speed towards them. She’d walked off to the girls’ locker room with the rest of the team to make sure no one left anything behind. Now, however, she looked pissed, “I told you to stay home,” She said as she came to a stop and placed her hands on her hips.

The woman reached up and removed her sunglasses. Golden eyes were revealed to Bella and the girl nodded in understanding now. Though, she was still confused by this whole situation. “What fun would that be?” The Latina asked and threw a smirk towards Kate before turning back to face Bella, “It was nice meeting you. I’m sure this won’t be the last we see of each other,” She said before she was gone. 

Bella was more confused, and Kate just looked more pissed. The girl stood stunned for a moment before turning towards Kate, “What the hell was that?” She asked and Kate glanced at her and sighed.

“That was Carmen. She’s sort of the ‘mother hen’ fixture of the coven,” Kate explained. She bent, picked up Bella’s bag, and gestured for the girl to walk with her, “She makes it her mission to meddle in my life. Well, they all do. But Tanya’s out of state at the moment, Irina is god knows where, and Eleazer is the most docile thing ever and just couldn’t care less.”

Bella nodded at the explanation but still just looked confused, “I know, that doesn’t answer your question. I’m not really ready to answer your question yet. I’m sorry. It’s not fair and I know that,” Bella bobbed her head that she was still listening as she concentrated and stared at the ground while Kate talked. “The answer is going to delve into the history I’m sure you’re not too keen on reliving right now,” Bella looked up then and made eye contact with the vampire before accepting that and looking back down. “The answer is a lot and I can’t answer you right now.”

They were silent for the rest of the walk back to Bella’s dorm building. They stopped in front of the building like usual and Kate handed Bella’s bag over, “Okay,” She said and Kate looked at her funnily, “I trust you to answer me when you think is best,” Bella explained and watched Kate’s face break into a smile that was quickly becoming her favorite smile. She could really get into trouble over these feelings that she was having about her coach.

“Thank you.”


	8. Chapter 8

A few weeks passed and the girls were on a winning streak. The team was getting along great. Bella was loving every minute of being a part of this team so far. 

She’d also grown closer with Kate. She hadn’t really planned on it, it just sort of happened. The vampire had messaged her to ask if she and JP wanted to run drills on one Sunday and Bella had responded that JP was out of town but she would love to.

They’d spent that entire day together and Bella hadn’t felt that relaxed or been in that good of a mood in she couldn’t tell you when. Kate still walked her back to her dorm building almost every night. She’d also continued to carry Bella’s bag for her while they walked as well. Bella didn’t really mind. It weighed a ton in her opinion and she knew it weighed nothing to Kate.

It was Saturday morning and they were in the middle of another game. They were on a streak having won the four games that they’d played so far, and no one wanted to lose just yet. The two teams were tied one to one and half time had just ended.

Bella tracked the ball with her eyes and just as it was being passed towards her, she was full on tackled. She hit the ground hard and felt, and heard, her nose crack loudly before blood was going everywhere. She faintly recognized that a whistle had been blown.

The brunette stood up quickly as soon as she had her bearings back and started to charge at the girl who’d tackled her. She felt strong arms wrap around her waist from behind and a voice whisper, “Not a chance, Bella,” As she was pulled backwards. She couldn’t have done anything her teammates weren’t already doing anyway. The girl who’d tackled her had better travel with a group when the game ended or Bella’s teammates might hurt her.

A whistle was blown again to break up the fight that was currently happening between the two teams, “Carmen!” Kate shouted and Bella looked confused until the brunette walked up beside her, “Deal with this for a few minutes?” She asked with a nod towards the field. Carmen said she would and Bella finally realized that she was still being held by Kate and against her body. She flushed and then let out a noise of surprise when Kate scooped her up and carried her off towards the locker room.

“What are you doing?” Bella asked as she looked over Kate’s shoulder and could see her teammates setting up for her penalty kick.

“Hold on,” Kate said through gritted teeth and Bella chose to just be quiet while she was carried. When they finally entered the locker room, Kate sat Bella down on one of the benches, grabbed some paper towels, wet them, and then knelt before Bella. She reached up to wipe at Bella’s nose and the human’s hand caught her wrist. Kate stopped moving immediately and met brown eyes.

“This doesn’t bother you?” Bella said apprehensively as she pointed at her nose.

“Not in the way you’d think,” Kate said and once again moved to wipe at Bella’s nose. The human let her go and didn’t stop her again, “It’s not broken, but it’s definitely bruised and already swelling.

“Super,” Bella said sarcastically and rolled her eyes, “Any chance I could finish the game?”

Kate looked at her in disbelief before breathing out a dry laugh and shaking her head good naturedly, “You know the rule. Once you have an injury that could potentially bleed on you or anyone else, you’re done. Plus, your jersey looks disgusting,” She said and Bella grimaced.

“Yeah, I figured,” Bella brought her fingers up and touched her nose lightly. She winced and saw Kate tense too. She froze, thinking that maybe all that blood had finally gotten to Kate.

“God, I could kill her,” Kate said as she stood and paced back and forth. Bella watched with undivided attention. She’d never seen her coach act like this before. The woman was irate and almost manic, “How dare she?” She continued as she paced and wrenched her hands through her hair.

“Coach,” Bella tried but Kate either didn’t hear her or didn’t care. She kept mumbling and pacing, and Bella tried again, “CK,” She said a little louder and the woman just kept on and didn’t acknowledge her, “Kate!” She finally shouted and the blonde stopped pacing and stared at her, “Jeez, for a vampire your hearing is shit.”

Kate stared at her blankly for a moment before sighing and nodding. She sat back down beside Bella and put her face in her hands, “What the hell is going on?” The human asked and Kate took an unnecessary breath.

“I think it’s time that I answered your question,” Kate answered and Bella looked confused for a moment before realizing what question she was referring to. She nodded.

“Oh,” She said lamely.

“It’s going to have to wait though. Right now, I’m meant to be coaching a soccer game and people are going to start wondering if something more is wrong with you if we’re gone much longer.”

Bella stood and followed Kate back out to the field. She took up her spot on the bench and could see Kate and Carmen whispering quickly about something but couldn’t make out anything. She’d just have to wait.


	9. Chapter 9

Bella didn’t get her answer right away though. After the game, the girls had all insisted on going for ice cream and Bella wasn’t allowed to deny their invite. Kate somehow got out of going with a point at Carmen and something about “family things” that needed to be attended to.

She didn’t make it back to her dorm until late that evening. It was already dark out and Bella wanted nothing more than to take a shower and go to bed. JP was staying with a bunch of the girls at Lil’ K’s dorm and Bella had thanked them for the invite but said she really just wanted to sleep. They all understood and told her that her nose looked bad ass before she left.

The next morning, her nose was bruised, but the swelling had gone down back to normal. It didn’t hurt as much anymore and she was thankful for that. 

She’d been up for most of the night wondering about what Kate had to tell her and when she finally fell asleep, she dreamed about her coach as well. She couldn’t get the blonde out of her head. 

It was now noon and Bella was thinking about going to get some lunch. She’d received an invitation to eat with the girls and was about to accept it when she got a text message from an unknown number.

Unknown: Can we talk? Are you free?

She had an idea. She didn’t really have anyone’s number being that they all messaged on the app where their group chat was set up. But she thought she knew who this would be. She asked anyway just to make sure.

Bella: Umm, who is this?

Unknown: it’s Kate

Bella: I figured. I’m free. Do I need to meet you somewhere?

Kate: Is JP there?

Bella: No she’s with the girls at lunch.

Kate: I’m on campus. I’ll be up in a minute.

Bella stared at her phone. Kate was coming up and expecting to talk to her in her bedroom? A little weird, but she found that she didn’t really mind.

Only a few minutes later, there was a knock on her dorm room door, and she got up to open it. Kate was on the other side, and Bella could have sworn that the vampire actually looked nervous. She stepped back and let the woman in before closing the door back and locking it.

Kate looked around and gestured towards Bella’s door with a questioning look on her face and Bella nodded, “Yeah that one’s mine,” She said and they made their way into the room. She closed the door behind them after hesitating for a minute and turned to face Kate. “So…” Bella trailed off and Kate sighed. The vampire took a seat in Bella’s desk chair, and so Bella took a seat cross legged on her bed.

“So,” Kate said and then seemed to be lost in thought for a long moment. “God, I don’t even know where to start,” She said and rubbed harshly at her face, “When you were in high school, you dated Edward?” Kate said but she went up at the end of the statement to make it sound like a question.

“Uh,” Bella bit her lip, “Yeah,” She said and bobbed her head once, “I did.”

“He told you that the two of you were mates?” She asked and Bella just nodded.

“He lied,” Bella whispered after a moment and Kate looked up sharply.

“What?” She asked and Bella shrugged.

“We aren’t mates,” She said definitively, “I had my doubts just based on what I had heard about the bond between mates, but everything was confirmed the day that he left me,” She explained, “We aren’t mates.”

“Okay,” Kate said slowly, “So you already know. That does make this a little easier,” She continued and her eyes darted around the room as she collected her thoughts, “He wasn’t your mate, no,” She confirmed, “But you have a mate.”

“I do?” Bella asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Kate nodded, “You do,” She looked away, “We’re mates, Bella,” She whispered. Bella wasn’t even sure that she’d heard her correctly. She stared for a few moments before Kate finally looked at her again. Her face full of apprehension.

“Can you repeat that? I don’t have super hearing and I want to make sure I heard you right,” She said and she could feel her heart hammering in her chest. She could feel the panic rising. She was sure that Kate could hear her body reacting to this big news.

“You and I,” Kate pointed between the two of them, “We’re mates,” She finished. So, Bella definitely heard her correctly. Time for a freak out.

Bella dropped her head and looked down at her lap. She could feel her heart rate rising and she could feel the panic taking over. It wasn’t Kate. It wasn’t that it was Kate at all. It was that she had a mate. She’d thought that she’d left that part of her life behind for good. She’d thought she’d never have to deal with this again. And now? Now there was a beautiful woman sitting across from her and waiting for a reaction.

Bella felt tears slip over her cheeks and fall into her lap. “Oh, baby, please don’t cry,” Kate said as she stood and then stopped because she didn’t know if she should actually approach the upset human.

“I’m sorry,” Bella said as she wiped at her face, “I don’t know why I’m crying,” She whispered as she continued to wipe harshly at her face. The tears continued to stream down her face though.

“You’re breaking my heart. Tell me how to help,” Kate said pleadingly and Bella could hear the anguish in her voice. Bella just shook her head and swiped at her face again.

“It’s not you,” Bella said and looked up into tear-filled eyes, “I promise it’s not,” Bella said and Kate nodded after a moment, “I just… I just-” She trailed off and bit her lip as she shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“It’s a lot to take in,” Kate agreed after a moment and Bella could hear that she was treading lightly. Bella was still crying, and Kate clearly didn’t want to make her cry again, “I don’t know how to make this better. Tell me how to make this easier for you.”

Bella knew she was hurting. She knew enough about mate bonds to know that Kate seeing her cry like this, was tearing her up inside. She knew that Kate was hurting too. But she couldn’t stop.

“I-” She paused and took a breath, “I need some time,” She looked up and saw Kate’s face fall, “I’m not sending you away. Not permanently anyway. I promise. I just... I just need time. To think about everything and process it all,” She whispered and Kate finally nodded, though she didn’t look like she wanted to leave Bella.

“Okay,” She said finally. “Okay,” She repeated and took a step back. Bella wiped at her face again and followed her to the door, “I’m sorry I upset you.”

Bella shook her head. “You didn’t. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Bella said. She needed Kate to know that she wasn’t crying because of her. She didn’t want to be crying at all. She could already feel the connection and the bond between them. She knew she was telling the truth. She was just crying and didn’t know why.

Kate nodded after a moment and opened the door to step into the hallway, “You’ll… let me know?” She asked and Bella just nodded as she leaned against the door jamb. Kate looked torn but finally gave a nod and left. Bella watched her leave before closing the door again, going into her room, and lying down.


	10. Chapter 10

Bella had barely slept that night. She’d laid awake until the early hours of the morning with thoughts running through her mind. She couldn’t fall asleep, and her exhaustion was clear on her face when she woke up. Her nose was at least fading some and looked a lot more normal.

She finally just got up after lying there forever and went for a run. The run took her mind off of things for a little while, but they had a morning practice today. She ran back to her dorm to grab her things and almost ran into JP as she entered.

“Woah, you’re up bright and early. Nose feel better?” She asked as Bella grabbed her things.

“Yeah, it does,” Bella nodded and the two of them walked to practice together. She loved having actual friends. She loved having people she could just talk to. Meaningless little conversations that distracted her and took her mind away from the million thoughts running through it at hundreds of miles per hour.

Practice was awkward to say the least. She’d put on sunglasses earlier to hide her puffy eyes, and now she could also effectively avoid making eye contact with Kate. She stayed away from her as much as possible during practice. It was hard. She was everywhere and Bella also just felt this undeniable pull to the vampire that she didn’t really have the will to fight anymore.

Kate wasn’t herself either. And the girls all definitely noticed too. The usually funny and bright blonde who they’d all come to love and adore, was suddenly gloomy and not at all chatty. They didn’t push their luck though and did what she asked of them. The practice was a tense one and Bella felt terrible for the girls because she felt completely responsible for this whole thing.

At the end of practice, everyone packed up quietly and left. Bella walked off with JP and glanced over her shoulder to see Kate watching her. It broke her heart too. She’d become accustomed to her time with Kate after practice. She loved their conversations and Kate’s antics, but she needed a little more time to get her mind straight.

“That was totally weird, right?” JP asked halfway across campus. Bella was lost in thought and looked up in confusion.

“What?” She asked.

“CK,” JP said, “She seemed bummed out, yeah?” She asked and Bella just nodded and focused her attention on the ground. Shit she was going to cry again. Dammit, “I wonder what happened.”

Bella just shrugged and shook her head that she didn’t know. The girls went their separate ways to shower and Bella once again sobbed while showering. She had to get a grip.

0~0~0

She took a walk that night. It was late and she probably shouldn’t be out by herself. But she had her pepper spray and her phone and she needed some fresh air to clear her head. She walked for a long time before finding herself in front of the book store and standing in front of the tree that Kate had hidden in and scared her from during their game of capture the flag. She sighed and nodded before taking a seat under the tree and pulling her phone out.

Bella: Can we talk?

Kate texted her back almost immediately and Bella couldn’t help the little smile that graced her face when her phone beeped.

Kate: Of course. Where?

Bella: I’m under your tree.

She didn’t get a reply and wondered if Kate had just ignored her text until she heard footsteps about five minutes later. She looked up as the vampire took a seat next to her. They were both silent for a long few moments before Bella sighed.

“I’m sorry,” She started and was cut off.

“Don’t apologize. This was a lot to take in. I’m your coach for god’s sake. I’m thousands of years old and you’re 22. The last time you got close to any vampire, it didn’t end how you thought it would. It was a lot to process. It is a lot to process.”

Bella nodded in agreement with the woman, “You’re not wrong,” She whispered as she faced forward once again, “It is a lot to take in. I never thought I’d meet another vampire, let alone be mated to one. Especially my ass of a soccer coach,” She said with a playful tone and Kate smirked slightly at her, “But I did, and I am, and I think I’m okay with that. Actually, I think I’m more than okay with that.”

Kate looked at her with hope all over her face and Bella stood and now it was her turn to pace in front of the other woman, “But how the hell would this even work?” Bella asked as she raked a hand through her hair, “You’re my coach. I’m your player. The girls will catch on eventually. You could lose your job,” Bella ranted and Kate watched her pace and listened to her concerns with a small smile on her face.

She stood while Bella was pacing and the human didn’t notice that she’d moved. She reached out and grabbed a warm hand in her own cool one and Bella froze and looked down at their hands before looking up into golden eyes.

“Bella. I am your coach, and you are my player. The girls might notice. And I might lose my job. Those are all true statements. But none of it matters to me. Nothing else matters when you’re right here. And I know that you’re not really ready for these kinds of declarations, but I’ve waited thousands of years for you and I know exactly how I feel. Human laws be damned.”

Bella stared for a long moment before nodding, “But for right now? We don’t have to do anything to put any of that into jeopardy. I’m a pretty sneaky vampire,” Kate said and Bella rolled her eyes good naturedly, “And this campus doesn’t really even have a rule about staff dating students but it probably would be a conflict of interest since I’m your coach. But who cares? We can make this work,” She paused, “I mean… If you even want to make this work?” She suddenly sounded so unsure and Bella’s heart soared in her chest. She cursed her own body in that moment for its reaction to Kate.

“I do,” She said with a nod, “I want this to work,” She said with a gesture between them, “I really do.”


	11. Chapter 11

They’d talked for a while longer before Kate had walked Bella back to her dorm building. Bella had told her that wasn’t necessary, and Kate had just shot her a look and walked her anyway. She hadn’t let go of the human’s hand since she’d grabbed it while she was pacing, and Bella didn’t really want her to.

As they approached Bella’s dorm building, the human noticed that Kate slowed down almost to a dragging pace. She played along for a moment before turning her face towards the vampire and seeing her looking away with a smirk on her face.

“What are you doing?” Bella finally asked and Kate just shrugged. Bella raised an eyebrow, and for the first time in her life, she saw a vampire pout, “Wow, that thing is powerful,” She said as she felt her heart tug at the sight.

“Good to know,” Kate said playfully and Bella rolled her eyes in response, “I was trying to slow you down because I’m not ever too keen on leaving you,” Kate admitted and Bella smiled up at her. She couldn’t help the smile that took over her face at that confession.

“You could have just said so. I’m too wired to sleep right now anyway. Another lap around campus isn’t going to hurt me,” She teased and Kate’s face broke into a wide smile.

“Yeah?” She asked excitedly.

“Yeah.”

0~0~0

Practice the next day went much better. Bella finally felt like herself again and her nose was officially back to its normal color. Kate was also her normal, happy self once again as well. The rest of the girls were in much better moods being that their coach was also. They’d all even happily done their speed drills and ran until Kate took pity on them.

“I wonder who peed in her cheerios yesterday,” JP whispered as she stretched next to Bella after they had run. They were about to go over plays and drills and had been instructed to get loose. Bella bit her lip, knowing full well that Kate could hear her.

“She seems more like a Wheaties girl,” Bella said with a shrug and definitely skirted around answering JP. She heard a laugh from somewhere behind them and smirked knowing that it was Kate.

Bella pushed up out of her leg stretch by doing a press handstand, and when she was upright again, she’d earned open-mouthed stares from most of her team as well as an admiring stare from her coach, “What?” She asked.

“What the hell, La-La?” Minnie asked, “That was some Wonder Woman shit,” She added and Bella just laughed and shrugged in response. “What next? Gonna back flip onto the field??

Bella pursed her lips in thought before readying herself to do just that, “Ah, ah, ah,” Came Kate’s voice and Bella stopped before throwing her weight backwards, “No one is going to hurt themselves before this week’s game,” She said and threw a look at Bella, though it held no heat directed towards the human, “Even if they are Wonder Woman,” She added with a wink as the girls started onto the field.

0~0~0

“Back flip, La-La!” Bella looked up from her water bottle with a confused look on her face. They’d just won their game and were all drenched in sweat. “CK said no one is going to hurt themselves before this week’s game. It’s over,” Minnie said with a smirk and Bella laughed. She caught Kate’s eye and the vampire just shot her a shrug.

“Am I free to go shower after?” Bella asked with a laugh and the girls all crowded around. She glanced behind her to make sure no one was on the field before arching forward and then throwing her body weight backwards in a perfect back flip. She flipped four times across the field and ended on the other side in a round off back hand spring. She landed perfectly and found her bearings again before jogging back across the field to her shocked teammates. 

“What the hell?” Was asked from someone on the team before everyone was requesting lessons in handstands and gymnastics. She picked her water bottle back up and shouldered her bag as everyone started to leave.

This week had been like nothing she’d ever expected. After she and Kate had talked, they’d spent more time together and talked a lot more too. Bella was constantly texting the vampire and Kate would call her at night to talk on the phone. The vampire would sneakily grab Bella’s hand in her own when they walked back to her dorm after practice and Bella knew that she never wanted the giddy feeling that followed to fade away.

“Would you do me a huge favor and make sure I turned my light off this morning?” JP asked and Bella looked up and nodded with a confused look on her face, “I’ll be out of town tonight and tomorrow and I can’t remember if I turned it off or not,” She said with a look of concentration on her face as she tried to think back. Bella just laughed and nodded in more understanding now, “Thanks, you’re the best!”

They all split up and Bella was looking down at her phone as she slowly made her way away from the field. She felt someone step up beside her before her bag was being lifted off of her shoulder. She looked up and the corner of her mouth turned up at the sight of Kate carrying her bag and smiling widely at her

“It’s not that heavy, you know? I could carry it,” Bella said playfully as she replied to the text she’d gotten before Kate had walked up.

“I have no doubts in any ability that you claim to possess anymore after that little show you put on back there,” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder towards the field, “But,” She said as she reached and grabbed Bella’s hand in her own, “You don’t have to,” She finished with a smile in Bella’s direction. 

The human just shot her a grin in response and shook her head good naturedly. They chatted idly as they walked and finally approached Bella’s dorm building. The human took her bag back, shouldered it, and leaned up on her toes to press her lips to Kate’s cheek in thanks before even thinking about what she had just done.

She turned right after and made her way into her building like that was what she had been planning the whole time. It totally wasn’t like her heart was pounding and the butterflies in her stomach were fluttering out of control anyway.


	12. Chapter 12

Bella had showered, eaten lunch, watched two entire episodes of Black Mirror, and even played several games of pool on her phone with Hollywood. However, she couldn't get her mind off of Kate. The woman occupied her thoughts all of the time. She was constantly thinking about Kate. But since she'd kissed her cheek on impulse, the vampire really raced around in her mind.

It was getting late and it was already dark out. She huffed and threw her head back as she groaned. Finally, she got up, changed into her swim suit, grabbed her towel, and headed out to sneak into the pool.

She made her way across campus quickly and easily made her way through the gate and into the pool area. No one was around, which was expected, so she quickly threw her towel and phone to the side of the pool before diving into the end and swimming the length of it twice before coming up for air.

She did a few more laps before floating on her back in the middle of the pool. She was just starting to relax from the exertion of the laps she'd done when her phone beeped from the side of the pool. She straightened up and swam lazily to her phone. She dried her hands off on her towel before propping up on the side of the pool and grabbing her phone. She smiled at the text from Kate before she even knew what it said.

Kate: What are you up to?

She'd attached an emoji with sunglasses and Bella just laughed at her.

Bella: I snuck into the pool.

She attached an emoji with its tongue stuck out and sent it.

Kate: Didn't we already run into trouble doing that?

Bella just laughed at the memory of them all almost getting caught the night they'd played capture the flag. She blushed at the memory of Kate carrying her out of the building and across campus.

Bella: Maybe ;). Too bad no one with super hearing is here to listen out for guards.

She attached a shrugging emoji and her heart was beating wildly in her chest at her own bravado. She watched the response bubbles pop up indicating that Kate was typing.

Kate: Was that an invitation?

Bella bit her lip before replying.

Bella: I believe it was.

Bella received a text telling her that Kate was on her way and sat her phone back down where it had been. She floated back out to the middle of the pool and contemplated doing a few more laps but didn't think that her heart would take it with how hard and fast it was already beating.

She was leisurely doing back strokes when Kate entered the building. The vampire had on a pair of short denim shorts and a shirt that was shorter than normal but not quite a crop top so it showed off just an inch or so of her stomach.

Bella once again made her way to the side of the pool and propped her arms up before resting her chin on her hands. Kate kicked off her shoes and sat down next to Bella with her legs dangling in the water.

"Night swimming? Really?" She asked with a laugh and Bella just shrugged in response and nudged her leg good naturedly with her shoulder.

"At least there's not fourteen of us who could potentially get caught," She said in retaliation and with a sarcastic playful tone. She pushed back from the wall and treaded water there as she continued to look up at Kate, "Plus they make it way too easy to break in," She added with a grin and Kate nodded in agreement.

"Can't argue there," She said as she looked around the room. She looked back down when Bella splashed water at her and made a face of mock shock. "It's on, La-La," She said as she stood and pulled her shirt over her head. Bella gulped at the sight. Kate shimmied out of her shorts, leaving herself in a black two piece, and dove gracefully into the pool. Bella laughed and darted away from her.

Kate pursued her around the pool for a few minutes while they shouted taunts at one another. Bella knew it was all for show and that Kate could easily catch her if she wanted to. When she did finally wrap her arms around Bella's waist, the human couldn't have felt more at ease.

She shrieked as she was pulled backwards into a cold, hard body and wiggled slightly before giving up. "Got ya," Kate whispered into her ear and Bella shook her head, "I think I did, darling," She said playfully and Bella just shook her head again, "I didn't?" She asked in the same playful tone and Bella shook her head, "Enlighten me then."

Bella took a breath, gathered every ounce of courage that she possessed, spun in Kate's arms, and kissed her on the lips. She took her opportunity to slip out of Kate's arms while she was in shock and distracted. She was boosted up on the side of the pool and sitting with her legs dangling in the water before the vampire even realized what had happened.

"So not fair," The blonde whispered in a daze and Bella laughed in response, "Seriously, not fair at all," She shook her head in an attempt to clear it some, "That was just wrong," She said with a playful tone as she swam towards the human now and propped up on her arms beside her.

"Oh, quit whining," Bella said as she kicked water and splashed the vampire, "I just won't do it again then," Bella said with a smirk and a sassy tone.

"On the contrary, darling, please feel free to do so any time you please," Kate said and Bella nearly swooned at the sultry tone that she used, "I promise you there will be no protest from me," She added and Bella blushed slightly and rolled her eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

When they'd finally had their fill of the pool, they'd gotten out, dried off, put their clothes on top of their swim suits, and left the building. It was Bella who reached out and grabbed Kate's hand this time. She laced their fingers together easily and Kate smiled at her and tugged her closer.

"Big plans tonight?" Kate asked as they walked.

"JP's out of town so I was just going to take up residence on the couch and watch as many episodes of Gilmore Girls as I can until I fall asleep," Bella said and shrugged, "So, if those are big plans," She teased and bumped shoulders with the vampire.

"They sound monumental," Kate said dryly and then laughed after.

"I suppose you wouldn't want to join me then?" Bella asked but didn't make eye contact with the vampire.

"You'd suppose wrong," Kate said immediately and Bella looked up into golden eyes, "It wouldn't matter what you were doing, I would be there if you allowed me."

"Then do you-" Kate cut her off.

"Yes."

0~0~0

They'd made their way up to Bella's dorm. Kate had been directed to the couch while Bella changed into her pajamas. She reemerged in a pair of short, soft shorts and a tank top. The human took a seat on the couch near Kate, pulled up Netflix on the tv, and started the next episode of Gilmore Girls.

Over the course of the first episode, Bella could feel something almost like a magnetic pull towards the vampire. They slowly moved closer and closer to one another until Bella was all but using Kate as a human sized pillow. Kate was propped up against the arm of the couch. Bella was leaned into her side and Kate was weaving her fingers through brown hair rhythmically.

At some point during the third episode, Bella finally succumbed to sleep mid-sentence as she was drowsily talking to Kate about something one of the characters had said. Kate shifted her slightly so she would be more comfortable and wouldn't wake up sore. She then sat there and watched her mate for the rest of the night.

0~0~0

When Bella woke, she subconsciously snuggled into the body she was cuddled up to. She then froze when she realized who she'd fallen asleep talking to and who this person must be that she was suddenly being so cuddly with.

"Oh please, continue," Kate laughed out and Bella groaned in response.

"You could have woken me up, you know? You have to be bored out of your mind," Bella mumbled and just continued to lie on top of Kate now that she was comfortable and didn't see a reason to move.

"You'd be major wrong, my friend," Kate said and Bella felt fingers weave into her hair and sighed softly at the action.

"Sure," Bella said sarcastically.

"Bella you've got to know that even if all we ever did together was you falling asleep on me, I would still be there every time. That's how mating bonds work. I would never pass up an opportunity to be near you, no matter what it was," She finished and Bella was still for a moment before shifting and looking up into golden eyes for confirmation. All she found was love and adoration reflected back at her and she felt her heart skip a beat.

"You're not kidding," Bella finally said more to herself than anything, but Kate shook her head anyway to let her know. Bella bit her bottom lip as she stared at Kate, "You really mean it," Bella said but it wasn't a question, she was more or less just talking to herself again. Kate chuckled and nodded again as she let Bella go through her mental monologue. "Good to know," The human finally said and then shrugged. Kate laughed at her and shook her head good naturedly.

0~0~0

"Are you ready for the away game this weekend?" JP asked as she did sit ups next to Bella. The two of them had gotten to practice early to run goalie drills for JP. Bella was counting as they did their reps.

"Yeah, I think so," She said and continued counting, "Can't be that bad, right?" She asked, referring to the game.

"I meant the after party," JP said and wiggled her eyebrows in Bella's direction. The brunette rolled her eyes at her friend. After each away game, the girls all went out for pizza and then the girls who were legal went out to clubs or bars to drink. "Come on, La-La. You had fun last time," She urged and Bella nodded. She had after she'd finally let loose. She just hadn't let herself get as drunk as everyone else in order to keep an eye on things.

"I suppose," Bella nodded in agreement and finally sat up and gestured towards the goal, "We doing this?"

0~0~0

They'd won their game by two goals and they'd chanted and cheered and carried Hollywood around because she'd scored the last goal and then they'd all group hugged CK when she'd complained that they were getting to be too much all at once.

After they'd finally let her go, she'd given them the normal spiel about letting them have their Saturday night but that they all better be bright eyed and bushy tailed when it came time to get on the bus to go back to Denali at 2 pm on Sunday. Kate usually left them with their adult chaperone (who was pretty much useless and went to sleep in her room when the girls went out at night) after the games and headed back to Denali so that she could hunt with her family on Sundays.

The girls had, of course, invited Kate to go out with them tonight and she had denied their invitation like usual. She did however catch Bella's eyes as she was leaving and shoot her a smile that made Bella's heart skip a beat.

It was late now, and the girls had all had showers and changed and done their make-up and hair. They were ready for pizza and whatever else the night brought them.


	14. Chapter 14

After pizza, the "littles" as JP called them had all gone out bowling and the "bigs" headed out to find the local bar that had good reviews online. Nike had made her way to the bar the moment they'd made it inside and ordered everyone shots. Bella took hers cautiously and watched everyone down theirs quickly and start ordering more before sitting hers down and deciding that she should probably stay sober for the sake of at least having someone thinking clearly with them when they tried to get back to the hotel.

Somewhere around their sixth round of drinks, the girls had all headed onto the dance floor with Bella being pulled along protesting the entire time that she couldn't dance. She finally relented and jumped around with the rest of the girls for a few songs before yelling that she was going to the restroom over the music. JP nodded that she'd heard her, and Bella made her way through the crowd into the little dimly lit hallway that led to the bathrooms.

As she was coming back down the hallway after finally getting into the restroom, she could sense someone behind her. The hair on her neck prickled and she tensed to keep from turning around.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing alone in a bar like this?" Came the deep voice of a stranger. Bella shook her head but didn't turn around thinking that if she could just make it out of the hallway then he would leave her alone.

"I'm not," She said curtly and then cried out in pain when he grabbed her wrist and yanked her backwards forcefully. Her back hit the wall and he crowded the space in front of her, "Let me go!" She yelled hoping that someone would hear her over the music bumping in the bar.

"Not gonna happen, sweet cheeks," He leaned in to kiss her and Bella turned her head and his mouth came into contact with her cheek. She fought the urge to vomit as she smelled his breath. "Oh, it's like that, huh?" He asked and reached up to grab her chin.

"Let go of me!" Bella shouted in a last-ditch attempt at getting someone to hear her. She tried to fight him but he was large and she couldn't get any momentum going in order to land a hit or a kick with the way that he was holding her.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, buddy?" Bella sighed in relief as she looked over his shoulder and saw six of her teammates stood behind the guy.

"This is between us, girls," Bella took her chance and kneed him as hard as she could while he was distracted. He went down groaning and Bella stepped away from him as quickly as she could and was immediately engulfed in the group of girls. "You bitch!" He yelled.

"I'm sure you're going to want to keep your mouth shut from here on out, asshole," Hollywood said as she held up her phone, "Cops are on their way now."

"Shit," Bella whispered. She did not want to be involved in something and now here she was. Right in the middle of something. She hissed in pain when someone grabbed her hand and looked down to see that her hand was swelling and cursed again under her breath.

"Oh, babe," JP said as she pulled her hand back quickly after realizing that Bella was hurt, "Girls, he broke her wrist," She said and then led Bella away. She looked back over her shoulder and could see them all circling in on him but she couldn't find it in herself to feel bad for him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the sporadic posting of the last few chapters! I was away for the summer at a camp and I could only post when I had access to wifi and also didn't have my computer so I had to make do with what my phone would allow me to post properly. This chapter is longer than usual to hopefully make up for a little bit of that and I will hopefully get to post more regularly from here on out!

They’d done the proper paper work for someone being injured on a school trip after Bella had finally made it home from the hospital in the early hours of the morning. She took one of the pain pills she’d been prescribed when she was finally alone and passed out until it was time to get up and leave for the bus back to campus.

Her wrist was fractured and currently in a cast which all of the girls had taken turns signing and decorating on the ride back. JP had carried her bag up to their room for her even though she’d protested and then asked if Bella wanted to go get dinner. She had shook her head in the negative and said she was going to shower and lay down. JP had just nodded and stared at her for a moment, before finally leaving. 

Bella had gone into her room, unpacked her things, and then heard a knock at the door. “Forget your key again, J?” She asked with a laugh as she made her way to it. She pulled it open and looked up to see Kate and froze, “Oh,” She said and stared at the vampire.

Bella watched Kate’s eyes flick back and forth from her face to her cast before settling on the cast, “What the hell?” She asked and Bella could hear the desperation in her tone and that her voice was becoming slightly hysterical. She reached out with her uninjured hand and grabbed Kate’s to pull her into the dorm so that they weren’t standing in the middle of the hallway.

“Kate, I’m fine,” Bella said in an attempt to calm down the quickly angering vampire. She closed her bedroom door in case JP came back.

“Fine?” Kate finally said exasperatedly, “Fine?” She repeated in disbelief, “You are not fine,” She said with emphasis and while gesturing to Bella’s hand.

“Kate, it’s not a big deal,” Bella said but the more she said, the angrier Kate seemed to become.

“Not a big deal?” Kate said and Bella could see fire in her eyes, “What happened?” She finally asked as she wrenched both hands through her hair.

Bella stared at her blankly for a moment, “You don’t know?” She asked as she cocked her head to the side. Kate shook her head and started pacing.

“I only know you’re hurt because Mrs. Collier told me the paperwork was on my desk,” Kate said and Bella looked confused for a second.

“Her name is Collier?” She asked and Kate stopped and just looked at her. Bella shrugged, “The girls just call her ‘Stick’, I didn’t know her name.”

Kate seemed to be torn between asking and getting to the root of the conversation. She finally sighed, “Stick?” She asked exasperatedly.

“Stick in the mud? Stick up her ass? Depends on the day apparently,” Bella said and Kate stared blankly before shaking her head and starting to pace again.

“Bella, what happened?” She asked again and Bella swallowed thickly. Shit, Kate was not going to like this at all.

“Umm,” Bella started, “You might want to sit down,” She finished and Kate looked at her for explanation but Bella didn’t give anything away with her face. She gestured to her desk chair and Kate hesitated for a moment before taking the seat.

Bella bit at her bottom lip and glanced around the room, “Start talking before I start pacing again,” Kate said quietly and brown eyes met gold as Bella nodded. She took a seat on her bed and took a breath.

“So we went out to this bar,” She started and Kate let out a breath and dropped her face into her hands but motioned for Bella to continue after realizing that Bella was waiting on her to look back up, “And everyone got a little drunk,” Bella continued and watched Kate closely even though the vampire still had her face in her hands, “So I decided not to drink because I couldn’t see us being able to find our way back with all of us wasted,” She said, “And at one point I made the stupid decision to go to the bathroom by myself and…” Bella paused. She hadn’t voiced this out loud yet and her throat had suddenly closed up at the thought of having to do so.

Her heart beat picked up and her breathing started to quicken as she panicked. Kate looked up stricken and stood quickly before stepping over to Bella. She gently placed her hands on either side of Bella’s face and brought her gaze up to meet her own, “Bella, baby, breathe, sweetheart,” She said and Bella nodded but didn’t get herself under control, “Baby, you’ve got to breathe,” Kate all but cooed at her, “I know that whatever it is can’t be easy to think about or say and you don’t have to tell me but you’ve got to breathe, darling,” Kate continued to speak soothingly to her as her thumbs made gentle sweeps over her cheekbones.

Bella took a deep, shaky breath finally and Kate nodded, “There we go,” She coddled and Bella suddenly felt so embarrassed. She attempted to drop her face but Kate held firm, “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Bella. Nothing at all,” She assured her and Bella stared at her for a long moment before finally nodding.

Kate moved to step away from Bella, but the human reached out quickly and grabbed one of her hands. She met brown eyes and searched for a minute before Bella was tugging on her hand gently. Kate took the hint and took a seat on the bed next to Bella. 

“I want to finish,” Bella said quietly and then looked at Kate who just nodded that she was listening. The human took a deep breath before continuing, “On my way back from the bathroom, this guy walked up behind me and started talking and when I ignored him and didn’t play into his little game, he grabbed my arm and pulled me backwards,” She saw Kate’s eyes flash and laid her head down on her mate’s shoulder, “And he kept trying to kiss me but I guess the girls finally heard me screaming and distracted him enough for me to land a kick right where it hurts the most,” Bella finished quietly and quickly.

She was quiet and didn’t look up but could just guess that Kate’s face was a mixture of anger, sadness, despair, and everything else. The vampire finally shifted and brought both arms around Bella’s waist to pull her as close as possible, “Baby, I don’t know what to say except that I’m sorry,” Kate said as she pressed her lips to Bella’s hair, “And that I’ll definitely be killing that motherfucker, but that’s beside the point.”

Bella snorted and shook her head, “You can’t do that. Scare him a little? Maybe. Kill him? Absolutely not,” Bella said as she looked up and saw Kate pout at her, “You know I’m right.”

Kate rolled her eyes, “I know,” She conceded as she tried to pull Bella impossibly closer to her, “I just-” She didn’t finish her thought as she looked away and Bella knew she’d gotten lost in thought. She shook herself out of her reverie, “Sorry,” She said, “I just don’t like the idea of you being hurt or of anyone hurting you and every instinct in me is screaming to go take care of him,” She was practically shaking with anger now and Bella acted completely on instinct and impulse as she turned her head and nuzzled her face and nose against Kate’s neck.

“It’s okay,” Bella whispered against Kate’s skin, “I’m okay,” She said again with a little more conviction as she felt Kate’s arms tighten around her.

“How did this turn into you comforting me instead of the other way around?” Kate asked with sarcasm heavily lacing her tone. 

“When you came in here guns blazing?” Bella replied with a laugh and felt Kate’s fingers gently drawing patterns on her hip where her hands rested, “Kate, I promise you that I am fine. I am going to be okay. Four weeks and this stupid hunk of plaster will be gone and I’ll be good as new.”

Kate finally let out a breath and nodded, “I know,” She whispered, “The wild and slightly feral instincts kicked in,” She said with a shrug and Bella laughed at the thought, “I still might kill him though.”


	16. Chapter 16

Bella was currently on the bench on the side lines of their next game. She had shown up to practice all week thinking that she could somehow sneak past Kate and actually get to play. Of course, the vampire caught her every time and refused to let her even get close to the field let alone a soccer game.

She was cross legged and all but pouting. Her sunglasses covered her face and her chin was propped in the palm of her hand that wasn’t currently in a cast. Kate was stood on the sidelines intently watching the game and cheering the girls on as she felt necessary.

The vampire glanced over her shoulder and stepped over to Bella to take a seat next to her on the bench, but not too close to her. Bella barely glanced at her and huffed, “You’re doing this to torture me, aren’t you?” She asked with a monotone voice full of boredom.

“I most definitely am!” Kate replied in a bright tone with a smile to match. Bella sighed and shook her head as Kate got back up and started yelling at the referee for something that had happened.

Someone took a seat on the bench next to Bella in that moment, but the brunette was too caught up in whatever was happening on the field to spare a glance in their direction. “You look thrilled to be here,” Was spoken from beside her and Bella glanced sideways over the tops of her sunglasses at the blonde woman who was currently taking up residence beside her now.

“Ecstatic,” Bella responded in the same tone that she had used with Kate. She didn’t bother wondering who this stranger was, she didn’t know most of the people in Denali.

“She’s right, you do seem like a sad puppy right now,” The stranger replied and Bella finally turned her head towards the woman and fixed her with a confused look.

“Tanya, what are you doing here?” Kate asked as she stepped to the side of the bench but kept her attention on the field.

“Carmen got to meet her,” Tanya said defensively, and Bella sighed. That made sense. Another of the coven. Kate rolled her eyes at her sister in response.

“God, you sound like a child,” She said exasperatedly, “Hey, come on ref!” She yelled then as she stepped away from the two of them and back towards the field.

“So,” Tanya said as she watched her sister yell at the ref from the sidelines but directed her words towards Bella, “How’d you really do that?” She said as she pointed towards Bella’s cast, “You punch someone?” She asked playfully and with raised eyebrows.

Bella just laughed softly and shook her head, “I wish I had,” She mumbled, “Minnie did though,” Bella said as she pointed out the smallest of the girls on her team, “He was shocked. No one knew she had it in her,” Tanya laughed at that and Bella just smirked.

“She’d be the one who’s about four feet tall I suppose?” Tanya asked as she indicated the girl who was currently dribbling down field. Bella barked out a laugh and nodded.

“Oh, come on, she’s not that short,” She said though she couldn’t say she and the other girls hadn’t made similar comments before. Tanya just raised her eyebrows in response and Bella shook her head.

“Ref! Are you blind?!” Kate yelled and Bella looked up in shock. She heard Tanya laugh from beside her and turned towards the blonde.

“Should you stop her?” She asked in slight concern though she knew Kate wouldn’t hurt anyone.

“I’m not supposed to be here,” Tanya said with a smirk. She reached out and slipped a piece of paper into Bella’s cast and shot her a look before leaving with a friendly good-bye and a threat thrown in Kate’s direction if she were to get into another yelling match with another ref. Kate had just thrown a look over her shoulder and smirked at Bella before shrugging and going back to her game.

Bella waited until Kate was in a huddle with the girls to pull out the slip of paper and unfold it to see what it was.

“Bella,   
She’d kill me if she knew I told you this (which is why I didn’t say it so she couldn’t hear) but she loves you with her entire heart and she’s terrible at expressing herself. She never shuts up about you. Trust me, we know so much about your ‘chocolate brown eyes’ and your ‘amazing abs’. I just thought you should know since it will take her forever to tell you (at least it’s a good thing she has forever). I don’t know if you’re quite as clueless or bad at talking about your feelings as she is (you don’t seem to be) but Irina, Carmen, and I thought we’d speed things along.  
Welcome to the family.”

Bella blushed while reading the short and simple note and slipped it back into her cast just as the huddle was breaking up. She looked up and caught golden eyes and was thrown a brilliant smile. She couldn’t help her answering smile in return and could’ve sworn that Kate smiled impossibly wider in response. Oh yeah, she was head over heels for this woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one is a little shorter than others. I promise the next one will be longer to make up for it!


	17. Chapter 17

Bella couldn’t sleep that night and went out for a run. On her second loop around campus, she finally decided to call Kate. She was just feeling antsy and couldn’t sit still and she knew that Kate was the reason for that.

“Hello?” Came her almost immediate answer and Bella grinned as she ran and knew that Kate could probably hear her breathing a little more heavily than normal.

“Hey,” Bella said, “What’s up?” She asked and then sighed and rolled her eyes at her own stupidity.

Kate laughed into the receiver, “Ya know, the usual. What are you doing?” She asked with humor in her tone and Bella came to a stop to stretch so she could talk to Kate without also keeping an eye out for anything that could trip her.

“Running,” She said simply.

“Wait,” Kate said suddenly, “By yourself?” She asked incredulously and Bella bit her lip. Oops.

“Uh, yeah,” She said hesitantly and heard shifting on the line, “I’m fine, Kate,” She insisted.

“You’re injured, it’s late and dark, you probably didn’t bring anything with you, and I’m willing to bet that you’re wearing a pair of shorts and a sports bra?” Kate said and Bella just sighed into the phone, “Not that I’m judging you on what you’re wearing, I just don’t want someone taking advantage of you while you’re a little more vulnerable.”

“Yeah, yeah. My vampire in shining armor,” Bella said and looked up when she heard footsteps. She saw Kate end the call on her own phone and stood up from her stretch to slide her cell into her back pocket, “You could have just told me to go back to my dorm. You didn’t have to come all the way here,” She pointed out with a knowing look on her face.

“You’re injured and have a history of being clumsy,” They’d talked about pre-soccer Bella over one of the weekends that they’d spent together, and Kate had found it hilarious that Bella used to literally trip over thin air.

Bella huffed in response at her and rolled her eyes good naturedly, “I think I’m offended by that,” Bella said playfully and Kate grinned at her, “You know what? I definitely am,” She said as she bounced on her toes to get ready to start running again.

“Are you now?” Kate said with a feral looking grin on her face and Bella just nodded. The brunette shot her a smile before taking off down the path. She knew, of course, that Kate could catch her easily and reveled in the laugh that she heard sound behind her before she heard the sounds of the vampire running at a rather human pace to catch up to her.

A few seconds later, arms closed around Bella’s waist and lifted her easily. The brunette squealed as she was spun around and then sat back to her feet. She spun in Kate’s arms and looked up into mirth-filled golden eyes and was once again hit with the full weight of Kate’s beautiful smile.

Bella made a decision then and there. She reached up, tangled a hand into golden locks, and tugged hard to bring Kate’s mouth down to her own. The vampire came willingly, and Bella connected their lips in a fierce kiss. As they continued to kiss, Bella’s other arm came up to loop around Kate’s neck and pull her closer. Kate’s arms around Bella’s waist pulled her more tightly against her and her cool hands on her bare back made Bella shiver. She whimpered into Kate’s mouth and the vampire willingly opened her mouth to her.

When Bella was starting to get light-headed from lack of oxygen, she regretfully broke their kiss and finally breathed. Her chest heaved as she stared up into her mate’s eyes. She was sure she looked like a wreck. Her lips were swollen, she’d already been slightly sweaty from her run, and her ponytail was askew on her head. But Kate didn’t seem to see any of that. She looked at Bella like she was the most beautiful thing in the world all the time and now was no different, maybe even amplified.

“What was that for?” Kate whispered as her fingers danced in patterns across Bella’s lower back subconsciously. Bella just shrugged as her fingers continued to weave through blonde hair.

“I don’t know,” Bella whispered finally and grinned up at Kate, “Can I do it again?” She asked playfully and could’ve sworn that she heard a growl come from the blonde.

“Baby, I don’t care if you never stop.”


	18. Chapter 18

Bella had gone back to her dorm (after finally detangling herself from Kate who insisted on walking her back), took a shower, and was getting into her bed to get some much needed sleep when her phone beeped.

Unknown: Idk what you did. But she’s walking on air. So good job.

Bella furrowed her eyebrows.

Bella: Who is this?

Unknown: Tanya

That made sense. She reread the previous message again now and had to fight the smile off of her face.

Bella: Oh. Thanks for telling me (:

Tanya texted her back telling her that it was her pleasure and Bella laid her phone to the side before seeing it light up again.

Kate: Good night, darling.

Bella smiled widely now with no chance of hiding it or fighting it off of her face.

Bella: Good night!

0~0~0

A few weeks passed and Bella had her cast removed and was okayed to play as long as she wore a brace but was not cleared to do any kind of heavy lifting or “wonder woman shit” as the girls liked to call it. They were currently in the middle of their game and it was Bella’s first game back. They’d all played hard so far and were sweaty and tired. The game was currently tied 1-1 and the girls were itching to score in the last few minutes of the game.

Reeces passed Bella the ball just as two girls from the other team cornered her. She huffed a sigh and glanced up to see their goalie not currently in the goal. She bit her lip, knew Kate would kill her, and trapped the ball with her feet as she spun into a back flip. She let go of the ball with just enough force for it to it the net and landed on her back. She winced at the shock that went up her arm, but other than that, it didn’t really hurt any more than usual.

“Isabella Swan!” Came the almost immediate response from what she could only imagine was her irate coach. She cringed and scrunched up her face earning giggles from the girls who had gathered around her.

Bella spun around to face Kate and put on her best smile, “What, CK?” She asked in an innocent tone. She earned a few more giggles from her teammates who were still around her and Kate huffed and propped her hands on her hips in a perfect ‘coach who is not happy right now’ move. “Hmm. That doesn’t look good,” She mumbled and earned an eyeroll from her coach, “Reeces passed it to me!” She said suddenly in the perfect childish tone while pointing to the girl.

“Woah! You are not blaming this on me!” Reeces said back in the same playful tone. The two girls stuck their tongues out at each other much to the amusement of their teammates.

“We did win, CK,” JP pointed out finally and Kate sighed as Bella nodded and pointed towards JP in acknowledgement.

“It’s like having 13 children,” Kate mumbled as she walked off and yelled for the girls to get their stuff and have a great weekend. 

0~0~0

Bella found herself strolling around campus with Kate later that night. She was always antsy at night and always wanted Kate around. It wasn’t like Kate was going to deny Bella anything she wanted, so she took night strolls with her on most nights. 

JP was out of town this weekend and Bella wanted to ask if Kate wanted to stay, but just didn’t know how to word it so the vampire wouldn’t take it a certain way. She just wanted to snuggle up to her mate and sleep. She knew without a doubt that she would sleep better than she ever had snuggled up against Kate. She just had a feeling. After all, she hardly ever wanted to be away from the blonde anymore.

She felt a squeeze on her hand and heard Kate teasingly say, “You look like you’re a thousand miles away there, B, what’s up?” The blonde asked playfully though Bella could hear the underlying concern.

“Will you sleep with me tonight?” She blurted out and then her eyes went wide and she started to sputter, “I mean!” She continued, “Not like that! Not that I don’t want you. I just… I… Oh god,” She mumbled and ran a hand roughly over face. She looked back up when she heard her favorite laugh and pouted at the vampire, “It’s not funny.”

“It’s hilarious,” Kate said as she continued to laugh, “Baby, I would love to hold you while you sleep. Is that what you’re asking for?” She asked as she finally tapered off her laughter and was able to focus. Bella nodded sheepishly and Kate smiled down at her as she reached up and ran a hand through Bella’s hair, “Absolutely.” She said then, “I will absolutely sleep with you,” She added in a playful tone and Bella just groaned in response as she rolled her eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

As Bella was falling asleep that night, she snuggled into her mate’s side and sighed happily, “Thank you,” She mumbled against Kate’s neck and the vampire chuckled softly.

“There’s no need to thank me, baby,” She whispered back as her fingers danced lightly over Bella’s back, “No matter what you want or need from me, I’ll always be here,” She said and pressed her lips against Bella’s forehead.

Bella shifted impossibly closer and sighed once again, “Mmm,” She mumbled. Then, “Love you.” If Kate’s heart could’ve beat in triple time, it would have. She wanted so badly to have Bella repeat herself. To make sure that she’d actually said it and that it wasn’t her brain playing tricks on her. She wanted to wake Bella up and tell her over and over again how much that she truly loved her human. But Bella was most definitely asleep now. Her mumbled words had been the last thing she’d said as she succumbed to sleep.

0~0~0

Bella woke to the feeling of fingers weaving gently through her hair and to the faint sound of humming. She sighed as she opened her eyes and shifted impossibly closer to Kate. “Morning,” She mumbled against the vampire’s neck and felt Kate’s answering smile against her forehead.

“Good morning, Bella,” The blonde said softly, “I trust you slept well?” She said with a teasing tone. Bella just nodded against her and nuzzled her nose into Kate’s neck now. “Who knew Wonder Woman was a snuggler?” She continued in the same tone and Bella just shrugged.

“Only with you,” She answered and Kate knew that if she were fully awake, that she probably wouldn’t have admitted that. The vampire tightened her hold on the human and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. “I want breakfast,” The human said suddenly and extricated herself from her mate. Kate sat up and watched her lovingly as she sleepily stumbled around her room and to her door. The human left for a few moments and came back with a granola bar in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She already looked more awake than she had just minutes before and brown eyes met gold before Kate was thrown a bright smile.

“I should probably get going. Tanya and Irina will come looking for me if I don’t show up on time to hunt,” Bella pouted at the thought of Kate leaving, “Wow that thing is lethal,” She said as she stood and stepped over to Bella and tapped her on the nose, “I won’t be gone all day. What time does JP get back?” The blonde asked as she wound her arms around Bella’s waist and pulled the human into her.

Bella laid her cheek down on Kate’s shoulder as she snaked an arm around her neck and shrugged, “No clue. She usually crawls in around midnight on Sundays and chugs a Red Bull before practice on Monday,” She said and Kate rolled her eyes in response to that confession.

“Of course she does,” She heard Bella’s answering giggle and shook her head, “So, maybe I come back later?” She asked hesitantly and Bella nodded against her almost immediately, “Alright.” She said and pressed a kiss to Bella’s forehead before stepping away from the human and towards the door, “Good bye, darling.”

Bella caught her hand and tugged. The vampire faced her again before she was being pulled into a kiss and all but melted into it. Bella pulled back a moment later with an impish grin on her face, “Good bye.”

0~0~0

Bella wiped her sweaty forehead at practice the next day. Kate had spent a few more hours with her the day before and had left when JP had texted that she might need some help getting the door open because she had shopping bags in her hands.

JP had stayed up for most of the night doing God only knows what and had stuck to her usual tradition of chugging an energy drink this morning to wake up enough to get to practice. She counted on exercise and endorphins to wake her up the rest of the way.

They’d been running drills for an hour or so now and it was beyond hot outside. They were all sweating and most of them had shed their shirts. Kate called for a water break and Bella took her chance to shed her top and pulled it over her head and tossed it into her bag as she grabbed her water bottle.

She turned around after putting her bottle back and met gold eyes. She nearly shivered at the look Kate was giving her. Sure, the woman had seen her in this state of dress plenty of times, but that didn’t mean that a show affected her any less. Bella shot her a smirk before joining the girls who were slowly making their way back onto the field. 

0~0~0

After practice, Bella was checking her phone as the girls were discussing going to the pool. A text came in while she was standing there and she had to resist the urge to laugh when she saw who it was from.

Kate: Meet me in the locker rooms.

Bella swallowed thickly and attempted to catch Kate’s eyes but the coach was too “busy” picking up cones and equipment.

“You in, La-La?” Was thrown her way and she looked up and shook her head and put on what she hoped was a regretful face.

“Sorry, guys. I promised my dad and a few friends from home that we’d Skype today,” She said with a shrug and the girls all nodded in understanding and headed off towards the dining hall to grab food before they headed to the pool.

Bella then shouldered her bag and headed off in the direction of the locker rooms leaving Kate on the field behind her where she was still “gathering” things. She smiled when she felt a hand enter her own and entangle their fingers together and glanced up to see Kate smiling down at her.

“That was a pretty convincing excuse you threw out back there,” Kate said as they entered the empty locker rooms. Bella dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around Kate’s waist.

“That’s because it’s true,” She said as Kate’s arms wound around her shoulders, “My dad wants to catch up and Jake and the boys wanted to talk too.”

“I shouldn’t be worried about ‘Jake and the boys’, should I?” Kate asked playfully and Bella rolled her eyes in response.

“Please, he’s been trying for years, if he hasn’t gotten the hint yet I don’t know what to tell him,” Bella said nonchalantly as she stepped away from the blonde and moved to turn a shower on.

“What are you doing?” Kate asked as she watched Bella turn the shower on and test the temperature of the water. The human looked back over her shoulder and shrugged.

“Showering,” She said simply. She turned back towards the shower, threw her bra off over her head, and slipped her shorts and underwear off before stepping into the shower and pulling the curtain closed. Kate watched on with her mouth slightly agape and wide eyes, “Are you going to join me or not?” Bella asked from under the spray of water and Kate swallowed thickly.

“Bella, we’re in a very public locker room, babe,” Kate responded though she knew that her resolve was slipping quickly.

“And you have super vampire hearing,” Bella responded easily and stuck her head out of the curtain to shoot Kate a smirk, “Yes or no, Kate?” She asked in a slightly sultry tone and Kate just nodded and stripped her clothes off as she stalked towards the human in the shower. “About time,” Bella teased.

“Oh, shut up,” Kate breathed out as she captured Bella’s face between her hands and brought their lips together fiercely.

“Yes, ma’am,” Bella mumbled against her lips.


	20. Chapter 20

Bella had had to drag herself out of her shared shower with Kate. The two had done little more than making out and teasing touches but she was keyed up beyond belief by the end of it. She threw on a pair of clean shorts and an extra top that she kept in her soccer bag. Kate slid back into her jeans and top from earlier and tossed her wet hair over her shoulder as she put her shoes back on her feet.

Bella bit her lip before stepping towards the blonde again and gained no protest from Kate when she recaptured the vampire’s lips yet again. The human’s phone buzzed from its place in her bag and Bella tore her mouth away from Kate long enough to check it and groan in response (partially from the message she’d received and partially from the way Kate’s mouth was currently dancing up and down Bella’s neck).

“What, darling?” Kate asked, though she didn’t stop her ministrations on her mate’s neck.

“I have to go. My dad is going to Skype me in five minutes,” Bella gasped out as Kate found a particularly sensitive spot.

“You’re never going to make it across campus in that little bit of time,” Kate mumbled against soft skin and didn’t seem too concerned with letting her mate leave any time soon.

“I’m going to run,” Bella said as she finally found the will power to pull away, “I need to, I’m all worked up,” She said saucily as she shouldered her bag and took off out of the room. Kate just laughed in response, “Bye!”

0~0~0

Bella opened her laptop just in time to answer a Skype call from Jacob. She was breathing a little harder than normal as she greeted him and he looked at her curiously, “What’s up, Bella?” He asked with a raised eyebrow and she shrugged.

“Ran here from practice,” She said simply and threw in a smile for good measure, “Where’s Charlie?” Jacob moved out of view and Charlie took a seat where he had been just before and greeted his daughter.

Charlie and Bella talked for a while before he made some excuse about being an old man and handed her back over to Jacob who had been joined by a few more of the tribe. They made small talk until Charlie left and then Jacob looked at her point blank and asked, “So what were you really doing before you answered this call?”

She smirked, “I told you, I ran across campus,” She said and lifted one of her shoulders in a nonchalant way, “Practice ran late, so I took a shower in the locker rooms and skipped lunch with the girls.”

“Really?” Quinn piped up from the left and Bella glanced at him and just nodded, “Because you’ve got one hell of a hickey there.” Bella felt her heart sink and her eyes widen.

“Got cha,” Jacob said and followed up with, “So who was in the shower with you?” He asked with a laugh, “Hope you’re not bringing boys into the girls’ locker room, Bells.”

Bella felt her blood boil at Jacob’s teasing and the fact that he was looking so smug right now, “Oh, don’t worry, Jacob,” She said his name with venom in her tone, “I definitely didn’t bring any boy into the locker room shower with me.” She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest while she fixed him with a look.

“Oh shit!” One of the boys exclaimed while Jacob continued to just look confused, “She had a girl in the shower with her!” He continued and all the boys started howling with laughter and nudging and shoving Jacob around while he turned more and more red.

“Bella,” He said as he regained some composure, “You can’t be serious,” He continued, and she smirked at him.

“I am. And I’m going to go call her now,” She ended the call through his protests and closed her laptop as he tried to call her back. “Asshole,” She mumbled as she picked up her phone to see what Kate was up to.

0~0~0

When their next away game rolled around, it was no surprise that Kate stayed in town for the night rather than leaving the girls with Mrs. Collier again. Everyone was super excited to have CK around and they’d invited her out with them, but she’d declined saying that she was old and was going to stay in and read or watch a terribly over-priced movie. The girls had groaned but eventually gotten over it.

Bella wanted nothing more than to stay in with Kate, but she knew that there was no way that she was going to get out of going out with the girls and that it would look super suspicious if she and Kate were the only two who didn’t go out.

She went out for food and games at Dave and Busters with everyone before they split up to go their separate ways for the night. JP made eye contact with Bella and gave her a soft smile, “You know you don’t have to come, La-La. We know it can’t be easy to go back out again,” She said and Bella guessed that the girl must have read her expression as being nervous rather than as scheming to find a way to leave.

She pursed her lips to look like she was really thinking about it before asking, “Really?” JP just nodded, “Maybe next time?” She asked hesitantly and JP smiled brightly at her and directed their Uber driver to swing back by their hotel to drop Bella off.

Bella made her way upstairs and was stepping out of the elevator when she almost ran into someone, “Sorry,” She mumbled and heard her favorite laugh, “Oh,” She said and giggled when she thought about what had just happened.

“I got a text from a very concerned JP asking that I please not let you be alone all night,” Kate said with a smirk and knowing tone, “How’d you pull that one off?” She asked as she threw an arm over Bella’s shoulders and started to walk the two of them down the hallway.

“JP thought I was upset about having to go out again but in reality, she just read my face wrong because I totally just wanted to come back here and hang out with you,” Bella finished quietly and didn’t make eye contact with Kate.

“Is that right?” Kate asked coyly and Bella just smirked and nodded as she stepped into Kate’s room behind the vampire.


	21. Chapter 21

Bella was cuddled into Kate’s side with the vampire’s fingers drawing lazy patterns against her skin. It was getting late and the two of them had half-watched three or four bad TV movies so far. They’d mostly talked, snuggled, and made out lazily while lying together on Kate’s bed.

“I should probably head to my room before JP gets back,” Bella mumbled as she pressed her lips to Kate’s neck softly.

“Probably,” Kate whispered, “But I don’t want you to,” She said with a pout and Bella breathed out a laugh in response as she shook her head and tucked her face into Kate’s neck.

“Trust me, I don’t want to leave either. But how’s it going to look if I sleep in my coach’s room?” Kate just groaned in response.

“I suppose you’re right,” She grumbled as she sat up and brought Bella with her. She connected their lips once again and felt Bella’s hand tangle into her hair and pull her closer, “You’re not helping me want to let you leave, darling,” Kate mumbled against her lips and Bella giggled into their kiss.

“Fine,” She relented as she stood and stretched for a moment. Kate stood to walk her to the door and interlocked their fingers. Bella leaned up and pecked Kate on the lips, “Love you,” She said like it was the most casual thing in the world to say.

“What?” Kate asked dumbly and Bella raised an eyebrow, “So you did mean to say that the other night when you fell asleep?” She asked incredulously and Bella laughed a little and nodded in confusion, “Bella,” Kate said and shook her head as she wound her arms around Bella’s waist and tugged her close, “I love you so much,” She whispered as she claimed the human’s lips, “So much.”

0~0~0

Bella had made it back to her room with just enough time to take a quick shower before JP was stumbling in a little worse for wear but with a smile on her face nonetheless. They’d slept late and rode the bus back to campus before everyone headed their separate ways to enjoy their Sunday. 

Bella looked down at her phone as she stepped into her own room after watching a few episodes of ‘Dead to Me’ with JP. Kate was calling her and she felt a smile spread across her face before she even had a chance at stopping it.

“Hello?” She said as she closed her door back.

“Come home with me for a little while,” Kate requested and Bella furrowed her eyebrows.

“And why would I do that?” Bella asked though she had no intention of saying no to her mate.

“Because Tanya and Carmen are driving me crazy and Irina wants to meet you while she’s in town. Eleazer couldn’t really give a shit but he does want to welcome you also,” Kate said, and Bella laughed.

“Okay.”

“Good, I’m already on campus waiting for you.”

0~0~0

Bella had ridden piggy-back to Kate’s home. She was in awe as they arrived at the large secluded home hidden away in the forest. It was gorgeous. Kate grabbed her hand and led her inside as she was still looking around at the house. 

“Nice to see you again, Bella,” The human looked forward suddenly and saw Carmen coming down the hallway towards them. She smiled in response, “Kate hasn’t shut up about you, so having you around may alleviate some of that.” Bella bit her lip as Kate groaned and shot Carmen a look that clearly said to shut up. “You act like I’m lying, Katrina,” The woman said saucily as she turned on her heel and threw a wink over her shoulder as she left the two of them.

“Katrina?” Bella asked with a playful tone and a raised eyebrow. Kate groaned again and brought her hand up to rub at her face.

“Yes,” She said reluctantly and shook her head mumbling, “Thanks, Carmen,” As she led Bella farther into the house.

“About time you brought her around, Kate,” Tanya said as they entered the living room and she looked up from her painting, “Nice to see you again, Bella,” The vampire said with a wink.

“What was that?” Kate asked suspiciously and Bella looked at her with a face of pure innocence.

“What?” She asked with an innocent tone to match the face. Kate narrowed her eyes playfully at the human and shot a glare at her sister before sighing.

“Fine. Don’t tell me,” She mumbled. The blonde then groaned and let go of Bella’s hand before she was being hug-tackled by yet another blonde vampire, “Irina!” She shouted as they rolled around the room like a couple of children play fighting with one another.

They finally stopped, sat up and apart from one another, and Irina shot her sister a smile, “What’s up, Kate?” She asked brightly and Bella laughed at the entire situation as Tanya just shook her head and continued painting like this was a normal occurrence. Kate reached out and zapped her sister on the side earning a low groan and a snarl thrown her way, “Why can’t you just play nicely?”

“You just tackled me!” Kate said with her hands up incredulously, “Where’s your mate at?” She asked after a moment.

“Hunting. He should be back soon,” She said as she smirked deviously at Kate and subtlety nodded towards Tanya. Kate just nodded and grinned.

“Not a chance, you two,” Tanya said from where she was painting. She didn’t even look up from her work.

“You’re no fun,” Irina complained, and Tanya just smiled brightly and shot her an indifferent shrug.


	22. Chapter 22

It was later, when Bella had been roped into letting Tanya and Irina do her makeup and paint her fingernails, that Irina’s mate appeared. Kate was upstairs doing god only knows what and making a ruckus even though she was definitely a thousand of years old vampire who should have been able to do anything quietly. Tanya had muttered something about “Kate being Kate” when it had started and Bella had just laughed.

“Hey, babe,” Irina said in the middle of painting Bella’s fingernails and the human furrowed her eyebrows before she heard the front door open. Oh, her mate was back. Made more sense.

The human looked up before anyone else in the room and made eye contact with someone that she never thought she’d see again. She froze and her breath caught in her throat before she forced herself to relax. Both vampires in the room had noticed the change though and Tanya looked up at Bella curiously as Irina turned towards Laurent. 

Kate came barreling down the stairs in that moment and made eye contact with Bella questioningly. Bella assumed that she’d heard her heartbeat pick up. All was silent for a long moment before Laurent was the one to break the silence, “It’s been a while, Isabella,” He said simply and Bella shrugged and relaxed. Kate wouldn’t have brought her into a dangerous situation. And Laurent had never been the one that Bella was truly scared of anyway.

“It has,” She agreed, “What? Five years?” She asked and he nodded after thinking for a moment, “So,” She started and trailed off, “How’s life?” She tried and Laurent cracked a smile.

“Same old, same old,” He said in the same tone that she’d asked the question in. Everyone else in the room looked truly confused.

It was Kate who finally spoke up, “Care to fill the rest of us in on what’s going on?” She asked and Bella could hear her voice about to become hysterical.

“That your mate?” Laurent asked and Bella just nodded with a smile, “Then I don’t think I want to be present for this conversation,” He said and Bella laughed.

“Probably wise?” She said with a shrug, “No hard feelings though, dude,” She threw in and Laurent gave her a smirk.

0~0~0

Irina and Tanya had left with Laurent. He’d promised to fill them in, but Kate had wanted to hear whatever it was from Bella and Bella alone. She’d pulled the human into her lap on the couch and Bella was currently straddling her mate and twisting Kate’s blonde hair between her fingers distractedly.

“Bella,” The vampire said pleadingly and Bella sighed and dropped her hands to her lap. She could feel Kate’s hands wrapped around her lower back and tracing soft patterns there to soothe her. She really didn’t want to relive this and tell this story again.

“Okay,” She sighed and took a deep breath, “I was playing baseball with the Cullens,” She started from there and told her story. Every detail, everything she could possibly remember. She didn’t spare Kate from anything. Her stupid decision to leave by herself. James biting her. Edward almost killing her. Victoria setting her sights on her. Jacob and the pack protecting her. Edward leaving her alone to fend for herself against Victoria. She told her everything.

When she finally finished, she sat back and let out a breath. Kate’s arms had tightened around her marginally, but the vampire was rigid now. There were no more patterns being traced against her skin, no smile gracing vampire lips, nothing.

The human brought her hands up and cupped Kate’s cheeks gently, “Kate?” She asked softly and the vampire blinked and seemed to realize that she’d checked out. She’d heard every word Bella had said, but she was processing it all. The next thing Bella knew, she was being pulled into a crushing hug. She didn’t really mind and tucked her face against Kate’s neck, “Kate, I’m fine,” She tried to reassure her mate and the vampire just tightened her arms around Bella’s back. Bella just sank against Kate to give her the time to process.

She eventually felt Kate relax some and sat back to look into golden eyes, “Why didn’t you tell me?” Kate asked quietly and Bella just shrugged.

“It’s not something I like to talk about… Or remember to be honest,” She said after a moment, “I hoped it wouldn’t come up.”

“Bella,” Kate started and she scrambled for words, “Baby,” She said and then shook her head, “God, I’m so sorry,” She finally said with a sigh and Bella shook her head as she brought her hands up to Kate’s face.

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while. I'm so sorry!

Classes started the next Monday and Bella was not prepared at all for that whole endeavor. She’d picked her schedule up and gotten everything she’d needed, but after having nearly four months off of school, it was going to be hard.

She’d been to her English class that morning and had been glad to see two of her teammates there. JP had been in her math class, along with Reeces. And Hollywood had been in her final science class. 

Bella was mentally exhausted after classes and was really looking forward to practice later. She headed back to her dorm, changed into her gym shorts, a tank top, and her cleats, before heading to the field early to get a few laps in.

She was two laps into her run around the field when she looked up and saw Kate watching her with a smile on her face. Bella’s own smile spread across her lips as she turned and jogged towards the vampire.

“Thought you’d be here. How was class?” Kate asked as she dug through her equipment bag and pulled out orange cones.

“Okay,” Bella said with a shrug, “Got to get back into the swing of things, I guess.”

“Is that why you’re an hour early for practice?” Kate asked playfully and Bella rolled her eyes as she smirked.

“Yeah, I needed to run. Or something. I haven’t figured out how to get rid of this energy yet,” She said as she shook out her hands and feet. Kate laughed and motioned towards the field.

“Well, Wonder Woman. I wouldn’t mind watching you flip around for a while,” She said in a suggestive tone and a raised eyebrow. Bella threw a smirk over her shoulder at her coach and seemed to contemplate actually following through. She shrugged after a moment and set up for a back flip. Kate watched smitten as Bella threw herself backwards over and over across the field until she finally landed and shot Kate a brilliant smile, “Better?” Kate asked with a laugh.

“Almost,” Bella said before throwing a standing back tuck and then cart-wheeling back over to Kate, “Let’s see what you’ve got, Katrina,” Bella said with a smirk and a playful tone. Kate let out a low growl for the use of her full name and squinted her eyes at Bella. Bella just smiled up at her, waiting.

“Fine,” The vampire said before, she too, was flipping across the field. Bella watched on in amazement. She really shouldn’t have been shocked. Kate was genetically flawless after all. Bella’s smile couldn’t have gotten any wider if she’d tried. 

When the rest of the team finally showed up, Bella and Kate had taken to performing crazy stunts and then daring the other to do it too. “You’re going to figure out a way to kill me… Somehow,” Kate mumbled before she took off at a human paced sprint and then lunged into her flips. When she landed, it was to applause from the other girls. Kate just laughed and rolled her eyes, “Alright, ladies! Let’s get started then!”

0~0~0

“Why were you at practice so early today?” JP asked later as she and Bella sat together in the dining hall eating dinner. Bella looked up at her mid chew and shrugged after getting her bearings back.

“I dunno,” She mumbled, “Keyed up from sitting in class too long today I guess,” She said. She speared another bite onto her fork and kept her eyes down on her plate. JP was silent for a long time after that. Bella knew she knew something was up. After all, she was living with her. It’d be hard not to see it.

“Are you dating one of the girls?” JP finally asked and Bella nearly spat her water all over her as she choked.

“What?” She asked in alarm, “No, I’m not dating one of the girls!” She whispered loudly, “Why would you ask that?”

“I have no clue, dude. I just... I don’t know. It seems like you’re happier or something lately and you always come to practice early and stay late. I just figured you were dating one of the girls,” She said nonchalantly and with a shrug thrown in.

“I mean…” Bella trailed off and contemplated what to say. She loved JP, she loved the entire team, but she didn’t know how much she should say, “I am… seeing someone. It’s just not someone on the team,” Bella finished and took a large bite of her slice of pizza to give herself a minute of chewing and hopefully not have to answer any of JP’s questions.

“And that someone is…” JP trailed off and looked at Bella questioningly, “Female?” She finished and Bella nearly sagged in relief. Oh, yeah, she could come out. She’d done that plenty of times. She was just waiting on JP to ask her if it was someone specific and was thrilled that this was all she asked.

“Umm, yeah,” Bella answered, “Is that okay?” She asked and bit her lip. This was her roommate after all. JP could be some giant homophobe for all she knew.

“Yeah, La-La. I’m not prejudiced. Half the team is gay. So, no one else is going to care either,” She said. Bella found comfort in those words. She knew she loved her teammates, that her teammates loved her. But now, she knew they would still feel the same way when she came out to them. Hell, half of them probably already knew anyway.

“Thanks, JP,” Bella said. She meant it. She really did feel better for some reason. She didn’t even know this was a fear of hers until it was gone.


End file.
